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TANGLEWOOD    TALES, 


GIRLS  AND  BOYS; 


A    SECOND    WON DEB-BOOK 


NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE. 


"ITH     FIKB      ILLDSTRATIONS. 


BOSTON: 
TICKNOR    AND    FIELDS 

1864. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  ConfreM,  In  the  year  iNfiS,  by 

Nathaniel   P4WTH0R!fE, 

ia  tee  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  MaagachusettB 


CONTENTS 


Paob 

THE   WAYSIDE  — INTRODUCTORY,    .    .  ....      7 

I  THE  MINOTAUR, ....    19 

II.  THE  PYGMIES, 71 

III.  THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH, 108 

IV.  CIRCE'S  PALACE, 161 

V.  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS, 214 

VI     THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE, 279 


:t{ 


THE    WAYSIDE. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

A  SHORT  time  ago,  I  was  favored  with  a  fly- 
ing visit  from  my  young  friend  Eustace  Bright, 
whom  I  had  not  before  met  with  since  quitting 
the  breezy  mountains  of  Berkshire.  It  being 
the  winter  vacation  at  his  college,  Eustace  was 
allowing  himself  a  little  relaxation,  in  the  hope, 
he  told  me,  of  repairing  the  inroads  which  severe 
application  to  study  had  made  upon  his  health  ; 
and  I  was  happy  to  conclude,  from  the  excellent 
physical  condition  in  which  I  saw  him,  that  the 
remedy  had  already  been  attended  with  very  de- 
sirable success.  He  had  now  run  up  from  Bos- 
ton by  the  noon  train,  partly  impelled  by  the 
friendly  regard  with  which  he  is  pleased  to  honor 
me,  and  partly,  as  I  soon  found,  on  a  matter  of 
literary  business. 

It  delighted  me  to  receive  Mr.  Bright,  for  the 
first  time,  under  a  roof,  though  a  very  humble 

(7) 


THE    WAYSIDE. 


one,  which  I  could  really  call  my  own.  Nor  did 
1  fail  (as  is  the  custom  of  landed  proprietors  all 
about  the  world)  to  parade  the  poor  fellow  up 
and  down  over  my  half  a  dozen  acres  ;  secretly 
rejoicing,  nevertheless,  that  the  disarray  of  the 
inclement  season,  and  particularly  the  six  inches 
of  snow  then  upon  the  gi'ound,  prevented  him 
from  observing  the  ragged  neglect  of  soil  and 
shrubbery  into  which  the  place  has  lapsed.  It 
was  idle,  however,  to  imagine  that  an  airy  guest 
from  Monument  Mountain,  Bald  Summit,  and 
old  Graylock,  shaggy  with  primeval  forests, 
could  see  any  thing  to  admire  in  my  poor  little 
hillside,  with  its  growth  of  frail  and  insect- 
eaten  locust  trees.  Eustace  very  frankly  called 
the  view  from  my  hill  top  tame  ;  and  so,  no 
doubt,  it  was,  after  rough,  broken,  rugged,  head 
long  Berkshire,  and  especially  the  northern  parts 
of  the  county,  with  which  his  college  residence 
had  made  him  familiar.  But  to  me  there  is  a 
peculiar,  quiet  charm  in  these  broad  meadows 
and  gentle  eminences.  They  are  better  than 
mountains,  because  they  do  not  stamp  and 
stereotype  themselves  into  the  brain,  and  thus 
grow  wearisome  with  the  same  strong  impres- 


THE    WAYSIDE.  ^ 

sion,  repeated  day  after  day.  A  few  summer 
weeks  among  mountains,  a  lifetime  among 
green  meadows  and  placid  slopes,  with  outlines 
forever  new,  because  continually  fading  out  of 
the  memory  —  such  would  be  my  sober  choice. 

I  doubt  whether  Eustace  did  not  internally 
pronounce  the  whole  thing  a  bore,  until  I  led 
him  to  my  predecessor's  little  ruined,  rustic 
summer  house,  midway  on  the  hillside.  It  is 
a  mere  skeleton  of  slender,  decaying  tree 
trunks,  with  neither  walls  nor  a  roof;  nothing 
but  a  tracery  of  branches  and  twigs,  which  the 
next  wintry  blast  will  be  very  likely  to  scatter 
in  fragments  along  the  terrace.  It  looks,  and 
is,  as  evanescent  as  a  dream  ;  and  yet,  in  its 
rustic  network  of  boughs,  it  has  somehow  en- 
closed a  hint  of  spiritual  beauty,  and  has  be- 
come a  true  emblem  of  the  subtile  and  ethereal 
mind  that  planned  it.  I  made  Eustace  Bright 
sit  down  on  a  snow  bank,  which  had  heaped 
itself  over  the  mossy  seat,  and  gazing  through 
the  arched  window  opposite,  he  acknowledged 
that  the  scene  at  once  grew  picturesque. 

"  Simple  as  it  looks,"  said  he,  "  this  little 
edifice  seems  to  be  the  work  of  magic.     It  is 


10  THE    WAYSIDE. 

full  of  suggestiveness,  and,  in  its  way,  is  as 
good  as  a  cathedral.  Ah,  it  would  be  just  the 
spot  for  one  to  sit  in,  of  a  summer  afternoon, 
and  tell  the  children  some  more  of  those  wild 
stories  from  the  classic  myths  I  " 

"  It  would,  indeed,"  answered  I.  "  The  sum- 
mer house  itself,  so  airy  and  so  broken,  is  like 
one  of  those  old  tales,  imperfectly  remembered  ; 
and  these  living  branches  of  the  Baldwin  apple 
tree,  thrusting  themselves  so  rudely  in,  are  like 
your  unwarrantable  interpolations.  But,  by  the 
by,  have  you  added  any  more  legends  to  the 
series,  since  the  publication  of  the  Wonder 
Book  ?  " 

"  Many  more,"  said  Eustace  ;  "  Primrose, 
Periwinkle,  and  the  rest  of  them,  allow  me 
no  comfort  of  my  life,  unless  I  tell  them  a 
story  every  day  or  two.  1  have  run  away  from 
home  partly  to  escape  the  importunity  of  those 
little  wretches !  But  I  have  written  out  six  of 
the  new  stories,  and  have  brought  them  for  you 
to  look  over." 

"  Are  they  as  good  as  the  first  ? "  1  in- 
quired. 

"  Better  chosen,  and  better  handled,"  replied 


THE    WAYSIDE. 


n 


Eustace  Bright.  "  You  will  say  so  when  you 
read  them." 

"  Possibly  not,"  I  remarked.  "  I  know,  from 
my  own  experience,  that  an  author's  last  work 
is  always  his  best  one,  in  his  own  estimate, 
until  it  quite  loses  the  red  heat  of  composition. 
After  that,  it  falls  into  its  true  place,  quietly 
enough.  But  let  us  adjourn  to  my  study,  and 
examine  these  new  stories.  It  would  hardly  be 
doing  yourself  justice,  were  you  to  bring  me 
acquainted  with  them,  sitting  here  on  this  snow 
bank  !  " 

So  we  descended  the  hill  to  my  small,  old  cot- 
tage, and  shut  ourselves  up  in  the  south-eastern 
room,  where  the  sunshine  comes  in,  warmly  and 
brightly,  through  the  better  half  of  a  winter's 
day.  Eustace  put  his  bundle  of  manuscript 
into  my  hands  ;  and  I  skimmed  through  it 
pretty  rapidly,  trying  to  find  out  its  merits 
and  demerits  by  the  touch  of  my  fingers,  as 
a  veteran  story  teller  ought  to  know  how  to  do. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  Mr.  Bright  con- 
descended to  avail  himself  of  my  literary  ex- 
perience by  constituting  me  editor  of  the  Won- 
der Book.     As  he  had  no  reason  to  complain  of 


12  THE    WAYSIDE. 

the  reception  of  that  erudite  work,  by  the  public, 
he  was  now  disposed  to  retain  me  in  a  similar 
position,  with  respect  to  the  present  volume, 
which  he  entitled  "  Tanglewood  Tales."  Not, 
as  Eustace  hinted,  that  there  was  any  real 
necessity  for  my  services  as  introductor,  inas- 
much as  his  own  name  had  become  established, 
in  some  good  degree  of  favor,  with  the  literary 
world.  But  the  connection  with  myself,  he  was 
kind  enough  to  say,  had  been  highly  agreeable ; 
nor  was  he  by  any  means  desirous,  as  most 
people  are,  of  kicking  away  the  ladder  that  had 
perhaps  helped  him  to  reach  his  present  eleva- 
tion. My  young  friend  was  willing,  in  short, 
that  the  fresh  verdure  of  his  growing  reputation 
should  spread  over  my  straggling  and  half- 
naked  boughs ;  even  as  I  have  sometimes  thought 
of  training  a  vine,  with  its  broad  leafincss,  and 
purple  fruitage,  over  the  worm-eaten  posts  and 
rafters  of  the  rustic  summer  house.  I  was  not 
insensible  to  the  advantages  of  his  proposal,  and 
gladly  assured  him  of  my  aeceptance. 

Merely  from  the  titles  of  the  stories,  I  saw  at 
once  that  the  subjects  were  not  less  rich  than 
those  of  the  former  volume  ;    nor  did  I  at  all 


THE    WAYSIDE.  13 

doubt  that  Mr.  Bright's  audacity  (so  far  as  that 
endowment  might  avail)  had  enabled  him  to 
take  full  advantage  of  whatever  capabilities  they 
offered.  Yet,  in  spite  of  my  experience  of  his 
free  way  of  handling  them,  I  did  not  quite  see, 
I  confess,  how  he  could  have  obviated  all  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  rendering  them  pre- 
sentable to  children.  These  old  legends,  so 
brimming  over  with  every  thing  that  is  most 
abhorrent  to  our  Christianized  moral  sense  — 
some  of  them  so  hideous,  others  so  melancholy 
and  miserable,  amid  which  the  Greek  tragedians 
sought  their  themes,  and  moulded  them  into 
the  sternest  forms  of  grief  that  ever  the  world 
saw ;  was  such  material  the  stuff  that  children's 
playthings  should  be  made  of!  How  were  they 
to  be  purified  ?  How  was  the  blessed  sunshine 
to  be  thrown  into  them  ? 

But  Eustace  told  me  that  these  myths  were 
the  most  singular  things  in  the  world,  and  that 
he  was  invariably  astonished,  whenever  he  be- 
gan to  relate  one,  by  the  readiness  with  which 
it  adapted  itself  to  the  childish  purity  of  his  au- 
ditors. The  objectionable  characteristics  seem 
to  be  a  parasitical  growth,  having  no  essentia] 


14  THE    WAYSIDE. 

connection  with  the  original  fable.  They  fail 
away,  and  are  thought  of  no  more,  the  instant 
he  puts  his  imagination  in  sympathy  with  the 
innocent  little  circle,  whose  wide-open  eyes  are 
fixed  so  eagerly  upon  him.  Thus  the  stories 
(not  by  any  strained  effort  of  the  narrator's,  but 
in  harmony  with  their  inherent  germ)  transform 
themselves,  and  reassume  the  shapes  which 
they  might  be  supposed  to  possess  in  the  pure 
childhood  of  the  world.  When  the  first  poet 
or  romancer  told  these  marvellous  legends,  (such 
is  Eustace  Bright's  opinion,)  it  was  still  the 
Golden  Age.  Evil  had  never  yet  existed ;  and 
sorrow,  misfortune,  crime,  were  mere  shadows 
which  the  mind  fancifully  created  for  itself,  as 
a  shelter  against  too  sunny  realities  ;  or,  at 
most,  but  prophetic  dreams,  to  which  the  dream- 
er himself  did  not  yield  a  waking  credence. 
Children  are  now  the  only  representatives  of 
the  men  and  women  of  that  happy  era  ;  and 
therefore  it  is  that  we  must  raise  the  intellect 
and  fancy  to  the  level  of  childhood,  in  order  to 
re-create  the  original  myths. 

I  let  the   youthful   author  talk    as  much  and 
as  extravagantly  as   he   pleased,  and  was   glad 


THE    WAYSIDE.  15 

fco  see  him  commencing  life  with  such  confi- 
dence in  himself  and  his  performances.  A  few 
years  will  do  all  that  is  necessary  towards  show- 
ing him  the  truth  in  both  respects.  Meanwhile, 
it  is  but  right  to  say,  he  does  really  appear  to 
have  overcome  the  moral  objections  against 
these  fables,  although  at  the  expense  of  such 
liberties  with  their  structure  as  must  be  left  to 
plead  their  own  excuse,  without  any  help  from 
me.  Indeed,  except  that  there  was  a  necessity 
for  it,  —  and  that  the  inner  life  of  the  legends 
cannot  be  come  at  save  by  making  them  entire- 
ly one's  own  property,  —  there  is  no  defence 
to  be  made. 

Eustace  informed  me  that  he  had  told  his 
stories  to  the  children  in  various  situations  —  in 
the  woods,  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  in  the  dell 
of  Shadow  Brook,  in  the  play  room,  at  Tangle- 
wood  fireside,  and  in  a  magnificent  palace  of 
snow,  with  ice  windows,  which  he  helped  his 
little  friends  to  build.  His  auditors  were  even 
more  delighted  with  the  contents  of  the  present 
volume  than  with  the  specimens  which  have 
already  been  given  to  the  world.  The  classical- 
ly learned  Mr.  Pringle,  too,  had  listened  to  two 


16  THE    WAYSIDE. 

or  three  of  the  tales,  and  censured  them  even 
more  bitterly  than  he  did  The  Three  Golden 
Apples  ;  so  that,  what  with  praise,  and  what 
with  criticism,  Eustace  Bright  thinks  that  there 
is  good  hope  of  at  least  as  much  success  with 
the  public  as  in  the  case  of  the  Wonder  Book. 

I  made  all  sorts  of  inquiries  about  the  chil- 
dren, not  doubting  that  there  would  be  great 
eagerness  to  hear  of  their  welfare,  among  some 
good  little  folks  who  have  written  to  me,  to  ask 
for  another  volume  of  myths.  They  are  all,  I 
am  happy  to  say,  (unless  we  except  Clover,)  in 
excellent  health  and  spirits.  Primrose  is  now 
almost  a  young  lady,  and,  Eustace  tells  me,  is 
just  as  saucy  as  ever.  She  pretends  to  consider 
herself  quite  beyond  the  age  to  be  interested 
by  such  idle  stories  as  these;  but,  for  all  that, 
whenever  a  story  is  to  be  told.  Primrose  never 
fails  to  be  one  of  the  listeners,  and  to  make  fun 
of  it  w^hen  finished.  Periwinkle  is  very  much 
grown,  and  is  expected  to  shut  up  her  baby 
house  and  throw  away  her  doll  in  a  month  or 
two  more.  Sweet  Fern  has  learned  to  read  and 
write,  and  has  put  on  a  jacket  and  pair  of  pan- 
taloons —  all  of  which  improvements  I  am  sorry 


THE    WAYSIDE.  17 

for.  Squash  Blossom,  Blue  Eye,  Plantain,  and 
Buttercup  have  had  the  scarlet  fever,  but  came 
eavsily  through  it.  Huckleberry,  Milkweed,  and 
Dandelion  were  attacked  with  the  hooping 
cough,  but  bore  it  bravely,  and  kept  out  of 
doors  whenever  the  sun  shone.  Cowslip,  dur- 
iKg  the  autumn,  had  either  the  measles,  or  some 
eruption  that  looked  very  much  like  it,  but  was 
hardly  sick  a  day.  Poor  Clover  has  been  a  good 
deal  troubled  with  her  second  teeth,  which  have 
made  her  meagre  in  aspect  and  rather  fractious 
in  temper;  nor,  even  when  she  smiles,  is  the 
matter  much  mended,  since  it  discloses  a  gap 
just  within  her  lips,  almost  as  wide  as  the  barn 
door.  But  all  this  will  pass  over,  and  it  is 
predicted  that  she  will  turn  out  a  very  pretty 
girl. 

As  for  Mr.  Bright  himself,  he  is  now  in  his 
senior  year  at  Williams  College,  and  has  a  pros- 
pect of  graduating  with  some  degree  of  honor- 
able distinction  at  the  next  commencement.  In 
his  oration  for  the  bachelor's  degree,  he  gives 
me  to  understand,  he  will  treat  of  the  classical 
myths,  viewed  in  the  aspect  of  baby  stories,  and 
has  a  great  mind  to  discuss  the  expediency  of 
2 


18  THH     WAYSIDE. 

using  up  the  whole  of  ancient  history,  for  the 
same  purpose.  I  do  not  know  what  he  means 
to  do  with  himself  after  leaving  college,  but 
trust  that,  by  dabbling  so  early  with  the  danger- 
ous and  seductive  business  of  authorship,  he 
will  not  be  tempted  to  become  an  author  by 
profession.  If  so,  I  shall  be  very  sorry  for  the 
little  that  I  have  had  to  do  with  the  matter,  in 
encouraging  these  first  beginnings. 

I  wish  there  were  any  likelihood  of  my  soon 
seeing  Primrose,  Periwinkle,  Dandelion,  Sweet 
Fern,  Clover,  Plantain,  Huckleberry,  Milkweed, 
Cowslip,  Buttercup,  Blue  Eye,  and  Squash  Blos- 
som again.  But  as  I  do  not  know  when  I 
shall  revisit  Tanglewood,  and  as  Eustace  Brigh^. 
probably  will  not  ask  me  to  edit  a  third  Wonder 
Book,  the  public  of  little  folks  must  not  expect 
to  hear  any  more  about  those  dear  children 
from  me.  Heaven  bless  them,  and  every  body 
else,  whether  grown  people  or  children! 

Thb  Wayside,  Concokd,  (Mass.,) 
March  13,  1853. 


THE    MINOTAUR.  19 


THE    MINOTAUE 


In  the  old  city  of  Troezene,  at  the  foot  of 
a  lofty  mountain,  there  lived,  a  very  long  time 
ago,  a  little  boy  named  Theseus.  His  grand- 
father. King  Pittheus,  was  the  sovereign  of  that 
country,  and  was  reckoned  a  very  wise  man ; 
so  that  Theseus,  being  brought  up  in  the  royal 
palace,  and  being  naturally  a  bright  lad,  could 
hardly  fail  of  profiting  by  the  old  king's  instruc- 
tions. His  mother's  name  was  ^thra.  As  for 
his  father,  the  boy  had  never  seen  him.  But, 
from  his  earliest  remembrance,  ^thra  used  to 
go  with  little  Theseus  into  a  wood,  and  sit  down 
upon  a  moss-grown  rock,  which  was  deeply 
sunken  into  the  earth.  Here  she  often  talked 
with  her  son  about  his  father,  and  said  that  he 
was  called  ^geus,  and  that  he  was  a  great  king, 
and   ruled   over  Attica,   and   dwelt   at  Athens, 


20  THE    MINOTAUR. 

which  was  as  famous  a  city  as  any  in  the  worxd. 
Theseus  was  very  fond  of  hearing  about  King 
/Egeus,  and  often  asked  his  good  mother  iEthra 
why  he  did  not  come  and  live  with  them  at 
Troezene. 

"  Ah,  my  dear  son,"  answered  ^thra,  with  a 
sigh,  "  a  monarch  has  his  people  to  take  care  of. 
The  men  and  women  over  whom  he  rules  are 
in  the  place  of  children  to  him;  and  he  can  sel- 
dom spare  time  to  love  his  own  children  as  other 
parents  do.  Your  father  will  never  be  able  to 
leave  his  kingdom  for  the  sake  of  seeing  his 
little  boy." 

"Well,  but,  dear  mother,"  asked  the  boy,  "why 
cannot  I  go  to  this  famous  city  of  Athens,  and 
tell  Kins:  ^o:eus  that  I  am  his  son  ?  " 

"  That  may  happen  by  and  by,"  said  ^thra. 
"  Be  patient,  and  we  shall  see.  You  are  not  yet 
big  and  strong  enough  to  set  out  on  such  an 
errand." 

"  And  how  soon  shall  I  be  strcjg  enough  ?" 
Theseus  persisted  in  inquiring. 

"  You  are  but  a  tiny  boy  as  yet,"  replied  his 
mother.  "  See  if  you  can  lift  this  rock  on  which 
we  are  sitting  ?  " 


THE    MINOTAUR.  21 

The  little  fellow  had  a  great  opinion  of  his 
own  strength.  So,  grasping  the  rough  protuber- 
ances of  the  rock,  he  tugged  and  toiled  amain, 
and  got  himself  quite  out  of  breath,  without 
being  able  to  stir  the  heavy  stone.  It  seemed  to 
be  rooted  into  the  ground.  No  wonder  he  could 
not  move  it ;  for  it  would  have  taken  all  the 
force  of  a  very  strong  man  to  lift  it  out  of  its 
earthy  bed. 

His  mother  stood  looking  on,  with  a  sad  kind 
of  a  smUe  on  her  lips  and  in  her  eyes,  to  see  the 
zealous  and  yet  puny  efforts  of  her  little  boy. 
She  could  not  help  being  sorrowful  at  finding 
him  already  so  impatient  to  begin  his  adventures 
in  the  world. 

"  You  see  how  it  is,  my  dear  Theseus,"  said 
she.  "  You  must  possess  far  more  strength  than 
now  before  I  can  trust  you  to  go  to  Athens,  and 
tell  King  ^geus  that  you  are  his  son.  But  when 
you  can  lift  this  rock,  and  show  me  what  is  hid- 
den beneath  it,  I  promise  you  my  permission  to 
depart." 

Often  and  often,  after  this,  did  Theseus  ask 
his  mother  whether  it  was  yet  time  for  him  to  go 
to  Athens ;  and  still  his  mother  pointed  to  the 


22 


THF,    MINOTAUR. 


rock,  and  told  him  that,  for  years  to  come,  he 
could  not  be  strong  enough  to  move  it.  And 
again  and  again  the  rosy-cheeked  and  curly- 
headed  boy  would  tug  and  strain  at  the  huge 
mass  of  stone,  striving,  child  as  he  was,  to  do 
what  a  giant  could  hardly  have  done  without 
taking  both  of  his  great  hands  to  the  task. 
Meanwhile  the  rock  seemed  to  be  sinking  far- 
ther and  farther  into  the  ground.  The  moss 
grew  over  it  thicker  and  thicker,  until  at  last  it 
looked  almost  like  a  soft  green  seat,  with  only  a 
few  gray  knobs  of  granite  peeping  out.  The 
overhanging  trees,  also,  shed  their  brown  leaves 
upon  it,  as  often  as  the  autumn  came  ;  and  at 
its  base  grew  ferns  and  wild  flowers,  some  of 
which  crept  quite  over  its  surface.  To  all  ap- 
pearance, the  rock  was  as  firmly  fastened  as  any 
other  portion  of  the  earth's  substance. 

But,  difficult  as  the  matter  looked,  Theseus 
was  now  growing  up  to  be  such  a  vigorous 
youth,  that,  in  his  own  opinion,  the  time  would 
quickly  come  when  he  might  hope  to  get  the 
upper  hand  of  this  ponderous  lump  of  stone. 

"  Mother,  I  do  believe  it  has  started  I  *'  cried 
he,  after  one  of  his  attempts.  "  The  earth 
around  it  is  certainly  a  little  cracked!" 


THE    MINOTAUR.  23 

"  No,  no,  child  I "  his  mother  hastily  answered. 
"  It  is  not  possible  you  can  have  moved  it, 
such  a  boy  as  you  still  are  I  " 

Nor  would  she  be  convinced,  although  The- 
seus showed  her  the  place  where  he  fancied  that 
the  stem  of  a  flower  had  been  partly  uprooted 
by  the  movement  of  the  rock.  But  ^thra 
sighed,  and  looked  disquieted ;  for,  no  doubt, 
she  began  to  be  conscious  that  her  son  was 
no  longer  a  child,  and  that,  in  a  little  while 
hence,  she  must  send  him  forth  among  the 
perils  and  troubles  of  the  world. 

It  was  not  more  than  a  year  afterwards  when 
they  were  again  sitting  on  the  moss-covered 
stone,  ^thra  had  once  more  told  him  the  oft- 
repeated  story  of  his  father,  and  how  gladly  he 
would  receive  Theseus  at  his  stately  palace,  and 
how  he  would  present  him  to  his  courtiers  and 
the  people,  and  tell  them  that  here  was  the  heir 
of  his  dominions.  The  eyes  of  Theseus  glowed 
with  enthusiasm,  and  he  would  hardly  sit  still  to 
hear  his  mother  speak. 

'*  Dear  mother  ^thra,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  never 
felt  half  so  strong  as  now!  I  am  no  longer  a 
child,  nor  a  boy,  nor  a  mere  youth !     I  feel  my- 


2^  THE    MINOTAUR. 

self  a  man  I  It  is  now  time  to  make  one  earnest 
trial  to  remove  the  stone." 

"  Ah,  my  dearest  Theseus,"  replied  his  mother, 
"  not  yet  I  not  yet!  " 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  he,  resolutely,  "  the  time 
has  come  I " 

Then  Theseus  bent  himself  in  good  earnest  to 
the  task,  and  strained  every  sinew,  with  manly 
strength  and  resolution.  He  put  his  whole  brave 
heart  into  the  effort.  He  wrestled  with  the  big 
and  sluggish  stone,  as  if  it  had  been  a  living 
enemy.  He  heaved,  he  lifted,  he  resolved  now 
to  succeed,  or  else  to  perish  there,  and  let  the 
rock  be  his  monument  forever!  ^thra  stood 
gazing  at  him,  and  clasped  her  hands,  partly 
with  a  mother's  pride,  and  partly  with  a  mother's 
sorrow.'  The  great  rock  stirred!  Yes,  it  was 
raised  slowly  from  the  bedded  moss  and  earth, 
uprooting  the  shrubs  and  flowers  along  with  it, 
and  was  turned  upon  its  side.  Theseus  had 
conquered  I 

While  taking  breath,  he  looked  joyfully  at  his 
mother,  and  she  smiled  upon  him  through  her 
tears. 

"  Yes,  Theseus,"  she  said,  "  the  time  has  come. 


THE    MINOTAUR.  25 

and  you  must  stay  no  longer  at  my  side  I  See 
what  King  ^geus,  your  royal  father,  hift  for 
you,  beneath  the  stone,  when  he  lifted  it  in  his 
mighty  arms,  and  laid  it  on  the  spot  whence 
you  have  now  removed  it." 

Theseus  looked,  and  saw  that  the  rock  had 
been  placed  over  another  slab  of  stone,  contain- 
ing a  cavity  within  it ;  so  that  it  somewhat 
resembled  a  roughly-made  chest  or  coffer,  of 
which  the  upper  mass  had  served  as  the  lid. 
Within  the  cavity  lay  a  sword,  with  a  golden 
hilt,  and  a  pair  of  sandals. 

"  That  was  your  father's  sword,"  said  ^thra, 
"  and  those  were  his  sandals.  When  he  went  to 
be  king  of  Athens,  he  bade  me  treat  you  as  a 
child  until  you  should  prove  yourself  a  man  by 
lifting  this  heavy  stone.  That  task  being  accom- 
plished, you  are  to  put  on  his  sandals,  in  order 
to  follow  in  your  father's  footsteps,  and  to  gird 
on  his  sword,  so  that  you  may  fight  giants  and 
dragons,  as  King  ^geus  did  in  his  youth." 

"  I  wdll  set  out  for  Athens  this  very  day  I " 
cried  Theseus. 

But  his  mother  persuaded  him  to  stay  a  day 
or  two  longer,  while  she  got  ready  some  neces- 


26  THE    MINOTAUR. 

sary  articles  for  his  journey.  When  his  grand- 
father, the  wise  King  Pitthcus,  heard  that  The- 
seus intended  to  present  himself  at  his  father's 
palace,  he  earnestly  advised  him  to  get  on  board 
of  a  vessel,  and  go  by  sea ;  because  he  might 
thus  arrive  within  fifteen  miles  of  Athens,  with- 
out either  fatigue  or  danger. 

"  The  roads  are  very  bad  by  land,"  quoth  the 
venerable  king ;  "  and  they  are  terribly  infested 
with  robbers  and  monsters.  A  mere  lad,  like 
Theseus,  is  not  fit  to  be  trusted  on  such  a  peril- 
ous journey,  all  by  himself.  No,  no  ;  let  him  go 
by  sea  I  " 

But  when  Theseus  heard  of  robbers  and  mon- 
sters, he  pricked  up  his  ears,  and  was  so  nuich 
the  more  eager  to  take  the  road  along  which 
they  were  to  be  met  with.  On  the  third  day, 
therefore,  he  bade  a  respectful  farewell  to  his 
grandfather,  thanking  him  for  all  his  kindness  ; 
and,  after  affectionately  embracing  his  mother, 
he  set  forth,  with  a  good  many  of  her  tears  glis- 
tening on  his  checks,  and  some,  if  the  truth 
must  be  told,  that  had  gushed  out  of  his  own 
eyes.  But  he  let  the  sun  and  \\in(l  dry  Ihem, 
and  walked  stoutly  on,  playing  with  the  golden 


THE    MINOTAUR.  27 

hilt  of  his  sword,  and  taking  very  manly  strides 
in  his  father's  sandals. 

I  cannot  stop  to  tell  you  hardly  any  of  the  ad- 
ventures that  befell  Theseus  on  the  road  to 
Athens.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that  he  quite  cleared 
that  part  of  the  country  of  the  robbers,  about 
whom  King  Pittheus  had  been  so  much  alarmed. 
One  of  these  bad  people  was  named  Procrustes  ; 
and  he  was  indeed  a  terrible  fellow,  and  had 
an  ugly  way  of  making  fun  of  the  poor  travellers 
who  happened  to  fall  into  his  clutches.  In  his 
cavern  he  had  a  bed,  on  which,  with  great  pre- 
tence of  hospitality,  he  invited  his  guests  to  lie 
down  ;  but  if  they  happened  to  be  shorter  than 
the  bed,  this  wicked  villain  stretched  them  out  by 
main  force  ;  or,  if  they  were  too  tall,  he  lopped 
off  their  heads  or  feet,  and  laughed  at  what  he 
had  done,  as  an  excellent  joke.  Thus,  however 
weary  a  man  might  be,  he  never  liked  to  lie  in 
the  bed  of  Procrustes.  Another  of  these  robbers, 
named  Scinis,  must  likewise  have  been  a  very 
great  scoundrel."  He  was  in  the  habit  of  fling- 
ing his  victims  off"  a  high  cliff"  into  the  sea  ;  and, 
in  order  to  give  him  exactly  his  deserts,  Theseus 
tossed  him  off"  the  very  same  place.     But  if  you 


28 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


will  believe  me,  the  sea  would  not  pollute  itself 
by  receiving  such  a  bad  person  into  its  bosom  ^ 
neither  would  the  earth,  having  once  got  rid  of 
him,  consent  to  take  him  back ;  so  that,  between 
the  cliff  and  the  sea,  Scinis  stuck  fast  in  the  air, 
which  was  forced  to  bear  the  burden  of  his 
naughtiness. 

After  these  memorable  deeds,  Theseus  heard 
of  an  enormous  sow,  which  ran  wild,  and  was 
the  terror  of  all  the  farmers  round  about ;  and, 
as  he  did  not  consider  himself  above  doing  any- 
good  thing  that  came  in  his  way,  he  killed  this 
monstrous  creature,  and  gave  the  carcass  to  the 
poor  people  for  bacon.  The  great  sow  had  been 
an  awful  beast,  while  ramping  about  the  woods 
and  fields,  but  was  a  pleasant  object  enough 
when  cut  up  into  joints,  and  smoking  on  I 
know  not  how  many  dinner  tables. 

Thus,  by  the  time  he  reached  his  journey's 
end,  Theseus  had  done  many  valiant  feats 
with  his  father's  golden-hilted  sword,  and  had 
gained  the  renown  of  being  one  of  the  bravest 
young  men  of  the  day.  His  fame  travelled 
faster  than  he  did,  and  reached  Athens  before 
him.     As    he    entered    the    city,   he    heard   the 


THE    MINOTAUR.  29 

inhabitants  talking  at  the  street  corners,  and 
saying  that  Hercules  was  brave,  and  Jason  too, 
and  Castor  and  Pollux  likewise,  but  that  The- 
seus, the  son  of  their  own  king,  would  turn  out 
as  great  a  hero  as  the  best  of  them.  Theseus 
Took  longer  strides  on  hearing  this,  and  fancied 
himself  sure  of  a  magnificent  reception  at  his 
father's  court,  since  he  came  thither  with  Fame 
to  blow  her  trumpet  before  him,  and  cry  to  King 
^geus,  "  Behold  your  son  I  " 

He  little  suspected,  innocent  youth  that  he 
was,  that  here,  in  this  very  Athens,  where  his 
father  reigned,  a  greater  danger  awaited  him 
than  any  which  he  had  encountered  on  the  road. 
Yet  this  was  the  truth.  You  must  understand 
that  the  father  of  Theseus,  though  not  very  old 
in  years,  was  almost  worn  out  with  the  cares  of 
government,  and  had  thus  grown  aged  before 
his  time.  His  nephews,  not  expecting  him  to 
live  a  very  great  while,  intended  to  get  all  the 
power  of  the  kingdom  into  their  own  hands.  But 
when  they  heard  that  Theseus  had  arrived  in 
Athens,  and  learned  what  a  gallant  young  man 
he  was,  they  saw  that  he  would  not  be  at  all  the 
kind  of  person  to  let  thein  steal  away  his  father's 


30  THE    MINOTAUR. 

crown  and  sceptre,  which  ought  to  be  his  own 
by  right  of  inheritance.  Thus  thl*se  bad-hearted 
nephews  of  King  yEgeus,  who  were  the  own 
cousins  of  Theseus,  at  once  became  his  enemies. 
A  still  more  dangerous  enemy  was  Medea,  the 
wicked  enchantress  ;  for  she  was  now  the  king's 
wife,  and  wanted  to  give  the  kingdom  to  her 
son  Medus,  instead  of  letting  it  be  given  to  the 
son  of  ^thra,  whom  she  hated. 

It  so  happened  that  the  king's  nephews  met 
Theseus,  and  found  out  who  he  was,  just  as  he 
reached  the  entrance  of  the  royal  palace.  With 
all  their  evil  designs  against  him,  they  pretended 
to  be  their  cousin's  best  friends,  and  expressed 
great  joy  at  making  his  acquaintance.  They 
proposed  to  him  that  he  should  come  into  the 
king's  presence  as  a  stranger,  in  order  to  try 
whether  jEgeus  would  discover  in  the  young 
man's  features  any  likeness  either  to  himself  or 
his  mother  ^thra,  and  thus  recognize  him  for  a 
son.  Theseus  consented;  for  he  fancied  that 
his  father  would  know  him  in  a  moment,  by  the 
love  that  was  in  his  heart.  But,  w^hile  he  waited 
at  the  door,  the  nephews  ran  and  told  King 
^geus  that  a  young  man  had  arrived  in  Athens, 


THE    MIN'OTAUK. 


31 


who,  to  their  certain  knowledge,  intended  to  put 
him  to  death,  and  get  possession  of  his  royal 
crown. 

"  And  he  is  now  waiting  for  admission  to 
your  majesty's  presence,"  added  they. 

"  Aha !  "  cried  the  old  king,  on  hearing  this. 
"  Why,  he  must  be  a  very  wicked  young  fellow 
indeed !  Pray,  what  would  you  advise  me  to  do 
with  him  ?  " 

In  reply  to  this  question,  the  wicked  Medea 
put  in  her  word.  As  I  have  already  told  you,  she 
was  a  famous  enchantress.  According  to  some 
stories,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  boiling  old  people 
in  a  large  caldron,  under  pretence  of  making 
them  young  again  ;  but  King^geus,  I  suppose, 
did  not  fancy  such  an  uncomfortable  way  of 
growing  young,  or  perhaps  was  contented  to  be 
old,  and  therefore  w^ould  never  let  himself  be 
popped  into  the  caldron.  If  there  were  time  to 
spare  from  more  important  matters,  I  should  be 
glad  to  tell  you  of  Medea's  fiery  chariot,  drawn 
by  winged  dragons,  in  which  the  enchantress  used 
often  to  take  an  airing  among  the  clouds.  This 
chariot,  in  fact,  was  the  vehicle  that  first  brought 
her  to  Athens,  where  she  had  done  nothing  but 


32 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


mischief  ever  since  her  arrival.  But  these  and 
many  other  wonders  must  be  left  untold  ;  and  it 
is  enough  to  say,  that  Medea,  amongst  a  thou- 
sand other  bad  things,  knew  how  to  prepare  a 
poison,  that  was  instantly  fatal  to  whomsoever 
might  so  much  as  touch  it  with  his  lips. 

So,  when  the  king  asked  what  he  should  do 
with  Theseus,  this  naughty  woman  had  an 
answer  ready  at  her  tongue's  end. 

"  Leave  that  to  me,  please  your  majesty,"  she 
replied.  "  Only  admit  this  evil-minded  young 
man  to  your  presence,  treat  him  civilly,  and  in- 
vite him  to  drink  a  goblet  of  wine.  Your  ma- 
jesty is  well  aware  that  I  sometimes  amuse 
myself  with  distilling  very  powerful  medicines. 
Here  is  one  of  them  in  this  small  phial.  As  to 
what  it  is  made  of,  that  is  one  of  my  secrets  of 
state.  Do  but  let  me  put  a  single  droj)  into  the 
goblet,  and  let  the  young  man  taste  it ;  and  I 
will  answer  for  it,  he  shall  quite  lay  aside  the 
bad  designs  with  which  he  comes  hither." 

As  she  said  this,  Medea  smiled  ;  but,  for  all 
her  smiling  face,  she  meant  nothing  less  than  to 
poison  the  poor  innocent  Theseus,  before  his 
father's  eyes.     And  King  /Egeus,  like  most  other 


THE    MINOTAUR.  33 

kings,  thought  any  punishment  mild  enough  for 
a  person  who  was  accused  of  plotting  against 
his  life.  He  therefore  made  little  or  no  objec- 
tion to  Medea's  scheme,  and  as  soon  as  the 
poisonous  wine  was  ready,  gave  orders  that  the 
young  stranger  should  be  admitted  into  his 
presence.  The  goblet  was  set  on  a  table 
beside  the  king's  throne  ;  and  a  fly,  meaning 
just  to  sip  a  little  from  the  brim,  immediately 
tumbled  into  it,  dead.  Observing  this,  Medea 
looked  round  at  the  nephews,  and  smiled  again. 
When  Theseus  was  ushered  into  the  royal 
apartment,  the  only  object  that  he  seemed  to 
behold  was  the  white-bearded  old  king.  There 
he  sat  on  his  magnificent  throne,  a  dazzling 
crown  on  his  head,  and  a  sceptre  in  his  hand. 
His  aspect  was  stately  and  majestic,  although 
his  years  and  infirmities  weighed  heavily  upon 
him,  as  if  each  year  were  a  lump  of  lead,  and 
each  infirmity  a  ponderous  stone,  and  all  were 
bundled  up  together,  and  laid  upon  his  weary 
shoulders.  The  tears  both  of  joy  and  sorrow 
sprang  into  the  young  man's  eyes  ;  for  he  thought 
how  sad  it  was  to  see  his  dear  father  so  infirm, 
and  how  sweet  it  would  be  to  support  him  with 


34  THE    MINOTALR. 

his  own  youthful  strength,  and  to  cheer  him  up 
with  the  alacrity  of  his  loving  spirit.  When  a 
son  takes  his  father  into  his  warm  heart,  it 
renews  the  old  man's  youth  in  a  better  way 
than  by  the  heat  of  Medea's  magic  caldron. 
And  this  was  what  Theseus  resolved  to  do.  He 
could  scarcely  wait  to  see  whether  King  ^Egeus 
would  recognize  him,  so  eager  was  he  to  throw 
himself  into  his  arms. 

Advancing  to  the  foot  of  the  throne,  he  at- 
tempted to  make  a  little  speech,  which  he  had 
been  thinking  about,  as  he  came  up  the  stairs. 
But  he  was  almost  choked  by  a  great  many 
tender  feelings  that  gushed  out  of  his  heart 
and  swelled  into  his  throat,  all  struggling  to  find 
utterance  together.  And  therefore,  unless  he 
could  have  laid  his  full,  over-brimming  heart 
into  the  king's  hand,  poor  Theseus  knew  not 
what  to  do  or  say.  The  cunning  Medea  ob- 
served what  was  passing  in  the  young  man's 
mind.  She  was  more  wicked  at  that  moment 
than  ever  she  had  been  before  ;  for  (and  it  makes 
me  tremble  to  tell  you  of  it)  she  did  her  worst 
to  turn  all  this  unspeakable  love  with  which 
Theseus  was  agitated,  to  his  own  ruin  and 
destruction. 


THE    MINOTAUR.  35 

''Does  your  majesty  see  his  confusion?"  she 
whispered  in  the  king's  ear.  "  He  is  so  con- 
scious of  guilt,  that  he  trembles  and  cannot 
speak.  The  wretch  lives  too  long!  Quick  I 
)frer  him  the  wine!" 

Now  King  ^geus  had  been  gazing  earnestly 
at  the  young  stranger,  as  he  drew  near  the 
throne.  There  was  something,  he  knew  not 
what,  either  in  his  white  brow,  or  in  the  fine 
expression  of  his  mouth,  or  in  his  beautiful  and 
tender  eyes,  that  made  him  indistinctly  feel  as  if 
he  had  seen  this  youth  before  ;  as  if,  indeed,  he 
had  trotted  him  on  his  knee  when  a  baby,  and 
had  beheld  him  growing  to  be  a  stalwart  man, 
while  he  himself  grew  old.  But  Medea  guessed 
how  the  king  felt,  and  would  not  suffer  him  to 
yield  to  these  natural  sensibilities ;  although 
thej^  were  the  voice  of  his  deepest  heart,  telling 
him,  as  plainly  as  it  could  speak,  that  here  was 
our  dear  son,  and  ^thra's  son,  coming  to  claim 
him  for  a  father.  The  enchantress  again  whis- 
pered in  the  king's  ear,  and  compelled  him,  by  her 
witchcraft,  to  see  everything  under  a  false  aspect. 

He  made  up  his  mind,  therefore,  to  let  Theseus 
drink  off  the  poisoned  wine. 


36  THE    MINOTAUR. 

"  Young  man,"  said  he,  "  you  are  welcome ! 
I  am  proud  to  sjiow  hospitality  to  so  heroic  a 
youth.  Do  me  the  favor  to  drink  the  contents 
of  this  goblet.  It  is  brimming  over,  as  you  see, 
with  delicious  wine,  such  as  I  bestow  only  on 
those  who  are  worthy  of  it!  None  is  more  wor- 
thy to  quaff  it  than  yourself!" 

So  saying.  King  ^geus  took  the  golden  gob- 
let from  the  table,  and  was  about  to  offer  it  to 
Theseus.  But,  partly  through  his  infirmities, 
and  partly  because  it  seemed  so  sad  a  thing  to 
take  away  this  young  man's  life,  however  wicked 
he  might  be,  and  partly,  no  doubt,  because  his 
heart  was  wiser  than  his  head,  and  quaked  with- 
in him  at  the  thought  of  what  he  was.  going  to 
do  —  for  all  these  reasons,  the  king's  hand  trem- 
bled so  much  that  a  great  deal  of  the  wine 
slopped  over.  In  order  to  strengthen  his  pur- 
pose, and  fearing  lest  the  whole  of  the  precious 
poison  should  be  wasted,  one  of  his  nephews 
now  whispered  to  him,  — 

"  Has  your  majesty  any  doubt  of  this  stran- 
ger's guilt?  There  is  the  very  sword  with 
which  he  meant  to  slay  you.  How  sharp,  and 
bright,    and    terrible    it   is!     Quick.'  —  let    him 


THE    MINOTAUR.  37 

taste  the  wine  ;  or  perhaps  he  may  do  the  deed 
even  yet." 

At  these  words,  ^geus  drove  every  thought 
and  feeling  out  of  his  breast,  except  the  one  idea 
of  how  justly  the  young  man  deserved  to  be  put 
to  death.  He  sat  erect  on  his  throne,  and  held 
out  the  goblet  of  wine  with  a  steady  hand,  and 
bent  on  Theseus  a  frown  of  kingly  severity;  for, 
after  all,  he  had  too  noble  a  spirit  to  murder 
even  a  treacherous  enemy  with  a  deceitful  smile 
upon  his  face. 

"  Drink  I "  said  he,  in  the  stern  tone  with  which 
he  was  wont  to  condemn  a  criminal  to  be  be- 
headed. "  You  have  well  deserved  of  me  such 
wine  as  this !  " 

Theseus  held  out  his  hand  to  take  the  wine. 
But,  before  he  touched  it.  King  ^geus  trembled 
again.  His  eyes  had  fallen  on  the  gold-hilted 
sword  that  hung  at  the  young  man's  side.  He 
drew  back  the  goblet. 

"That  sword!"  he  exclaimed;  "how  came 
you  by  it?" 

"  It  was  my  father's  sword,"  replied  Theseus, 
with  a  tremulous  voice.  "  These  were  his  san- 
dals.    My  dear  motiher  (her  name  is  iEthra)  told 


38  THE    MINOTAUR. 

me  his  story  while  I  was  yet  a  little  child.  But 
it  is  only  a  month  since  I  grew  strong  enough 
to  lift  the  heavy  stone,  and  take  the  sword  and 
sandals  from  beneath  it,  and  come  to  Athens  to 
seek  my  father.'* 

'•  My  son  I  my  son  ! "  cried  King  ^geus,  fling- 
ing away  the  fatal  goblet,  and  tottering  down 
from  the  throne  to  fall  into  the  arms  of  Theseus. 
"  Yes,  these   are  ^thra's  eyes.      It  is  my  son." 

I  have  quite  forgotten  what  became  of  the 
king's  nephews.  But  when  the  wicked  Medea 
saw  this  new  turn  of  affairs,  she  hurried  out  of 
the  room,  and  going  to  her  private  chamber,  lost 
no  time  in  setting  her  enchantments  at  work.  In 
a  few  moments,  she  heard  a  great  noise  of  hissing 
snakes  outside  of  the  chamber  window ;  and, 
behold  I  there  was  her  fiery  chariot,  and  four 
huge  winged  serpents,  wriggling  and  twisting  in 
the  air,  flourishing  their  tails  higher  than  the 
top  of  the  palace,  and  all  ready  to  set  off  on  an 
aerial  journey.  Medea  staid  only  long  enough  to 
take  her  son  with  her,  and  to  steal  the  crown 
jewels,  together  with  the  king's  best  robes,  and 
whatever  other  valuable  things  she  could  lay 
hands    on  ;  and    getting    into    the    chariot,    she 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


30 


whipped  up  the  snakes,  and  ascended  high  over 
the  city. 

The  king,  hearing  the  hiss  of  the  serpents, 
scrambled  as  fast  as  he  could  to  the  window, 
and  bawled  out  to  the  abominable  enchantress 
never  to  come  back.  The  whole  people  of 
Athens,  too,  who  had  run  out  of  doors  to  see 
this  wonderful  spectacle,  set  up  a  shout  of  joy 
at  the  prospect  of  getting  rid  of  her.  Medea, 
almost  bursting  with  rage,  uttered  precisely  such 
a  hiss  as  one  of  her  own.  snakes,  only  ten  times 
more  venomous  and  spiteful ;  and  glaring  fierce- 
ly out  of  the  blaze  of  the  chariot,  she  shook  her 
hands  over  the  multitude  below,  as  if  she  were 
scattering  a  million  of  curses  among  them.  In 
so  doing,  however,  she  unintentionally  let  fall 
about  five  hundred  diamonds  of  the  first  water, 
together  with  a  thousand  great  pearls,  and  two 
thousand  emeralds,  rubies,  sapphires,  opals,  and 
topazes,  to  which  she  had  helped  herself  out  of 
the  king's  strong  box.  All  these  came  pelting 
down,  like  a  shower  of  many-colored  hailstones^ 
upon  the  heads  of  grown  people  and  children, 
who  forthwith  gathered  them  up,  and  carried 
them  back  to  the  palace.     But  King  ^geus  told 


40 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


them  that  they  were  welcome  to  the  whole,  and 
to  twice  as  many  more,  if  he  had  them,  for  the 
sake  of  his  delight  at  finding  his  son,  and  losing 
the  wicked  Medea.  And,  indeed,  if  you  had 
seen  how  hateful  was  her  last  look,  as  the  flam- 
ing chariot  flew  upward,  you  would  not  have 
wondered  that  both  king  and  people  should 
think  her  departure  a  good  riddance. 

And  now  Prince  Theseus  was  taken  into  great 
favor  by  his  royal  father.  The  old  king  was 
never  weary  of  having  him  sit  beside  him  on  his 
throne,  (which  was  quite  wide  enough  for  two,) 
and  of  hearing  him  tell  about  his  dear  mother, 
and  his  childhood,  and  his  many  boyish  efforts 
to  lift  the  ponderous  stone.  Theseus,  however, 
was  much  too  brave  and  active  a  young  man  to 
be  willing  to  spend  all  his  time  in  relating  things 
which  had  already  happened.  His  ambition 
was  to  perform  other  and  more  heroic  deeds, 
which  should  be  better  worth  telling  in  prose 
and  verse.  Nor  had  he  been  long  in  Athens  be- 
fore he  caught  and  chained  a  terrible  mad  bull, 
and  made  a  public  show  of  him,  greatly  to  the 
wonder  and  admiration  of  good  King  ^geus 
and  his  subjects.     But  pretty  soon,  he  undertook 


THE     MINOTAUR.  41 

an  affair  that  made  all  his  foregone  adventures 
seem  like  mere  boy's  play.  The  occasion  of  it 
was  as  follows  :  — 

One  morning,  when  Prince  Theseus  awoke,  he 
fancied  that  he  must  have  had  a  very  sorrowful 
dream,  and  that  it  was  still  running  in  his  mind, 
even  now  that  his  eyes  were  open.  For  it  ap- 
peared as  if  the  air  was  full  of  a  melancholy 
wail ;  and  when  he  listened  more  attentively,  he 
could  hear  sobs,  and  groans,  and  screams  of 
woe,  mingled  with  deep,  quiet  sighs,  which  came 
from  the  king's  palace,  and  from  the  streets,  and 
from  the  temples,  and  from  every  habitation  in 
the  city.  And  all  these  mournful  noises,  issuing 
out  of  thousands  of  separate  hearts,  unite4  them- 
selves into  the  one  great  sound  of  affliction,, 
which  had  startled  Theseus  from  slumber.  He 
put  on  his  clothes  as  quickly  as  he  could,  (not 
forgetting  his  sandals  and  gold-hilted  sword,) 
and  hastening  to  the  king,  inquired  what  it  all 
meant. 

"  Alas  !  my  t^on,"  quoth  King  ^geus,  heaving 
a  long  sigh,  "  here  is  a  very  lamentable  matter 
in  hand !  This  is  the  wofulest  anniversary  in 
the  whole  year.     It  is  the  day  when  we  annually 


42  THE    MINOTAUR. 

draw  lots  to  see  which  of  the  youths  and 
maidens  of  Athens  shall  go  to  be  devoured  by 
the  horrible  Minotaur  I  " 

"  The  Minotaur!"  exclaimed  Prince  Theseus, 
and  like  a  brave  young  prince  as  he  was,  he 
put  his  hand  to  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  "  What 
kind  of  a  monster  may  that  be  ?  Is  it  not 
possible,  at  the  risk  of  one's  life,  to  slay  him?" 

But  King  ^geus  shook  his  venerable  head, 
and  to  convince  Theseus  that  it  was  quite  a 
hopeless  case,  he  gave  him  an  explanation  of 
the  whole  affair.  It  seems  that  in  the  Island 
of  Crete  there  lived  a  certain  dreadful  monster, 
called  a  Minotaur,  which  was  shaped  partly  like 
a  man  and  partly  like  a  bull,  and  was  altogether 
such  a  hideous  sort  of  a  creature  that  it  is  really 
disasreeable  to  think  of  him.  K  he  were  suffered 
to  exist  at  all,  it  should  have  been  on  some 
desert  island,  or  in  the  duskiness  of  some  deep 
cavern,  where  nobody  would  ever  be  tormented 
by  his  abominable  aspect.  But  King  Minos, 
who  reigned  over  Crete,  laid  out  a  vast  deal 
of  money  in  building  a  habitation  for  the 
Minotaur,  and  took  great  care  of  his  health 
and    comfort,    merely    for    mischief's    sake.      A 


THE    MIx\OTAUR. 


43 


few  years  befor3  this  time,  there  had  beea  a 
war  between  the  city  of  Athens  and  the  island 
of  Crete,  in  which  the  Athenians  were  beaten, 
and  compelled  to  beg  for  peace.  No  peace 
could  they  obtain,  however,  except  on  condition 
that  they  should  send  seven  young  men  and 
seven  maidens,  every  year,  to  be  devoured 
by  the  pet  monster  of  the  cruel  King  Minos. 
For  three  years  past,  this  grievous  calamity 
had  been  borne.  And  the  sobs,  and  groans, 
and  shrieks,  with  which  the  city  was  now  filled, 
were  caused  by  the  people's  woe,  because  the 
fatal  day  had  come  again,  when  the  fourteen 
victims  were  to  be  chosen  by  lot ;  and  the  old 
people  feared  lest  their  sons  or  daughters  might 
be  taken,  and  the  youths  and  damsels  dreaded 
lest  they  themselves  might  be  destined  to  glut 
the  ravenous  maw  of  that  detestable  man- 
brute. 

But  when  Theseus  heard  the  story,  he  straight- 
ened himself  up,  so  that  he  seemed  taller  than 
ever  before  ;  and  as  for  his  face,  it  was  indig- 
nant, despiteful,  bold,  tender,  and  compassion- 
ate, all  in  one  look. 

"  Let  the  people  of  Athens,  this  year,  draw 


44  THE    MINOTAUR. 

lots  for  only  six  young  men,  instead  of  seven  " 
said  he.  "  I  will  myself  be  the  seventh  ;  and 
let  the  Minotaur  devour  me,  if  he  can  ! " 

"  O  my  dear  son,"  cried  King  JEgeus,  "  why 
should  you  expose  yourself  to  this  horrible  fate  ? 
You  are  a  royal  prince,  and  have  a  right  to  hold 
yourself  above  the  destinies  of  common  men." 

"  It  is  because  I  am  a  prince,  your  son,  and 
the  rightful  heir  of  your  kingdom,  that  I  freely 
take  upon  me  the  calamity  of  your  subjects," 
answered  Theseus.  "  And  you,  my  father,  being 
king  over  this  people,  and  answerable  to  Heaven 
for  their  welfare,  are  bound  to  sacrifice  what  is 
dearest  to  you,  rather  than  that  the  son  or 
daughter  of  the  poorest  citizen  should  come  to 
any  harm." 

The  old  king  shed  tears,  and  besought  Theseus 
not  to  leave  him  desolate  in  his  old  age,  more 
especially  as  he  had  but  just  begun  to  know  the 
happiness  of  possessing  a  good  and  valiant  son. 
Theseus,  however,  felt  that  he  was  in  the  right, 
and  therefore  would  not  give  up  his  resolution. 
But  he  assured  his  father  that  he  did  not  intend 
to  be  eaten  up,  unresistingly,  like  a  sheep,  and 
that,  if  the    Minotaur  devoured   him,  it  should 


THE    MINOTAUR.  45 

not  be  without  a  battle  for  his  dinner.  And 
finally,  since  he  could  not  help  it,  King  ^geus 
consented  to  let  him  go.  So  a  vessel  was  got 
ready,  and  rigged  with  black  sails;  and  Theseus, 
with  six  other  young  men,  and  seven  tender 
and  beautiful  damsels,  came  down  to  the  harbor 
to  embark.  A  sorrowful  multitude  accompa- 
nied them  to  the  shore.  There  was  the  poor 
old  king,  too,  leaning  on  his  son's  arm,  and 
looking  as  if  his  single  heart  held  aH  the  grief 
of  Athens. 

Just  as  Prince  Theseus  was  going  on  board, 
his  father  bethought  himself  of  one  last  word 
to  say. 

"  My  beloved  son,"  said  he,  grasping  the 
prince's  hand,  "  you  observe  that  the  sails  of 
this  vessel  are  black  ;  as  indeed  they  ought  to 
be,  since  it  goes  upon  a  voyage  of  sorrow  and 
despair.  Now,  being  weighed  down  with  in- 
firmities, I  know  not  whether  I  can  survive  till 
ihe  vessel  shall  return.  But,  as  long  as  I  do 
jive,  I  shall  creep  daily  to  the  top  of  yonder 
cliff,  to  watch  if  there  be  a  sail  upon  the  sea. 
And,  dearest  Theseus,  if,  by  some  happy  chance 
you  should  escape  the  jaws  of  the   Minotaur, 


46  THE    MINOTATUiw 

then  tear  down  those  dismal  sails,  and  hoist 
others  that  shall  be  bright  as  the  sunshine. 
Beholding  them  on  the  horizon,  myself  and  all 
the  people  will  know  that  you  are  coming  back 
victorious,  and  will  welcome  you  with  such  a 
festal  uproar  as  Athens  never  heard  before." 

Theseus  promised  that  he  would  do  so.  Then, 
going  on  board,  the  mariners  trimmed  the  ves- 
sel's black  sails  to  the  wind,  which  blew  faintly 
off  the  sltore,  being  pretty  much  made  up  of 
the  sighs  that  every  body  kept  pouring  forth  on 
this  melancholy  occasion.  But  by  and  by, 
when  they  had  got  fairly  out  to  sea,  there  came 
a  stiff  breeze  from  the  north-west,  and  drove 
them  along  as  merrily  over  the  white-capped 
waves  as  if  they  had  been  going  on  the  most 
delightful  errand  imaginable.  And  though  it 
was  a  sad  business  enough,  I  rather  question 
whether  fourteen  young  people,  without  any 
old  persons  to  keep  them  in  order,  could  con- 
tinue to  spend  the  whole  time  of  the  voyage 
'n  being  miserable.  There  had  been  some  few 
Jances  upon  the  undulating  deck,  I  suspect, 
and  some  hearty  bursts  of  laughter,  and  othei 
ach   unseasonable    merriment   among    the   vie 


THE    MINOTAUR.  47 

tims,  before  the  high,  blue  mountains  of  Crete 
began  to  show  themselves  among  the  far-off 
clouds.  That  sight,  to  be  sure,  made  them  all 
very  grave  again. 

Theseus  stood  among  the  sailors,  gazing  ea- 
gerly towards  the  land;  although,  as  yet,  it 
seemed  hardly  more  substantial  than  the  clouds, 
amidst  which  the  mountains  were  looming  up. 
Once  or  twice,  he  fancied  that  he  saw  a  glare 
of  some  bright  object,  a  long  way  off,  flinging  a 
gleam  across  the  waves. 

"  Did  you  see  that  flash  of  light  ?  "  he  inquired 
of  the  master  of  the  vessel. 

"  No,  prince ;  but  I  have  seen  it  before,"  an- 
swered the  master.      "  It   came  from  Talus, 
suppose." 

As  the '  breeze  came  fresher  just  then,  the 
master  was  busy  with  trimming  his  sails,  ana 
had  no  more  time  to  answer  questions.  But 
while  the  vessel  flew  faster  and  faster  towards 
Crete,  Theseus  was  astonished  to  behold  a  hu- 
man figure,  gigantic  in  size,  which  appeared  to 
be  striding,  with  a  measured  movement,  along 
the  margin  of  the  island.  It  stepped  from  cliff 
to  cliff,  and   sometimes  from  one  headland  to 


48  THE    MINOTAUR. 

another,  while  the  sea  foamed  and  thundered  on 
the  shore  beneath,  and  dashed  its  jets  of  spray- 
over  the  giant's  feet.  What  was  still  more  re- 
markable, whenever  the  sun  shone  on  this  huge 
figure,  it  flickered  and  glimmered ;  its  vast  coun- 
tenance, too,  had  a  metallic  lustre,  and  threw 
great  flashes  of  splendor  through  the  air.  The 
folds  of  its  garments,  moreover,  instead  of  waving 
in  the  wind,  fell  heavily  over  its  limbs,  as  if 
woven  of  some  kind  of  metal. 

The  nigher  the  vessel  came,  the  more  Theseus 
wondered  what  this  immense  giant  could  be, 
and  whether  it  actually  had  life  or  no.  For, 
though  it  walked,  and  made  other  lifelike  mo- 
tions, there  yet  was  a  kind  of  jerk  in  its  gait, 
which,  together  with  its  brazen  aspect,  caused 
the  young  prince  to  suspect  that  it  was  no  true 
giant,  but  only  a  wonderful  piece  of  machinery. 
The  figure  looked  all  the  more  terrible  because 
it  carried  an  enormous  brass  club  on  its  shoulder. 

"What  is  this  wonder?"  Theseus  asked  of 
the  master  of  the  vessel,  who  was  now  at  leisure 
to  answer  him. 

"  It  is  Talus,  the  Man  of  Brass,"  said  the 
master. 


THE    MINOTAUR.  49 

"  And  is  he  a  live  giant,  or  a  brazen  image  ?  " 
asked  Theseus. 

"  That,  truly,"  replied  the  master,  "  is  the 
point  which  has  always  perplexed  me.  Some 
say,  indeed,  that  this  Talus  was  hammered  out 
for  King  Minos  by  Vulcan  himself,  the  skilfulest 
of  all  workers  in  metal.  But  who  ever  saw  a 
brazen  image  that  had  sense  enough  to  walk 
round  an  island  three  times  a  day,  as  this  giant 
walks  round  the  Island  of  Crete,  challenging 
every  vessel  that  comes  nigh  the  shore  ?  And, 
on  the  other  hand,  what  living  thing,  unless  his 
sinews  were  made  of  brass,  would  not  be  weary 
of  marching  eighteen  hundred  miles  in  the 
twenty-four  hours,  as  Talus  does,  without  ever 
sitting  down  to  rest?  He  is  a  puzzler,  take  him 
how  you  will." 

Still  the  vessel  went  bounding  onward ;  and 
now  Theseus  could  hear  the  brazen  clangor  of 
the  giant's  footsteps,  as  he  trod  heavily  upon 
the  sea-beaten  rocks,  aome  of  which  were  seen 
to  crack  and  crumble  into  the  foamy  waves  be- 
neath his  weight.  As  they  approached  the  en- 
trance of  the  port,  the  giant  straddled  clear 
across  it,  with  a  foot  firmly  planted  on  each 
4 


50  THE    MINOTAUR. 

headland,  and  uplifting  his  club  to  such  a  height 
that  its  but-end  was  hidden  in  a  cloud,  he  stood 
in  that  formidable  posture,  with  the  sun  gleam- 
ing all  over  his  metallic  surface.  There  seemed 
nothing  else  to  be  expected  but  that,  the  next 
moment,  he  would  fetch  his  great  club  down, 
slam  bang,  and  smash  the  vessel  into  a  thousand 
pieces,  without  heeding  how  many  innocent 
people  he  might  destroy ;  for  there  is  seldom  any 
mercy  in  a  giant,  you  know,  and  quite  as  little 
in  a  piece  of  brass  clockwork.  But  just  when 
Theseus  and  his  companions  thought  the  blow 
was  coming,  the  brazen  lips  unclosed  themselves, 
and  the  figure  spoke. 

"  Whence  come  you,  strangers  ?  " 

And  when  the  ringing  voice  ceased,  there  was 
just  such  a  reverberation  as  you  may  have  heard 
within  a  great  church  bell,  for  a  moment  or  two 
after  the  stroke  of  the  hammer. 

"  From  Athens!  "  shouted  the  master  in  reply. 

"  On  what  errand  ? "  thundered  the  Man  of 
Brass. 

And  he  whirled  his  club  aloft  more  threaten- 
ingly than  ever,  as  if  he  were  about  to  smite 
them  with  a  thunderstroke  right  amidships,  be- 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


51 


cause  Atliens,  so  little  while  ago,  had  been  at 
war  with  Crete. 

"  We  bring  the  seven  youths  and  the  seven 
maidens,"  answered  the  master,  "  to  be  devoured 
by  the  Minotaur  !  " 

"  Pass !  "  cried  the  brazen  giant. 

That  one  loud  word  ri^ed  all  about  the  sky, 
while  again  there  was  a  booming  reverberation 
within  the  figure's  breast.  The  vessel  glided 
between  the  headlands  of  the  port,  and  the  giant 
resumed  his  march.  In  a  few  moments,  this 
wondrous  sentinel  was  far  away,  flashing  in 
the  distant  sunshine,  and  revolving  with  im- 
mense strides  around  the  Island  of  Crete,  as  it 
was  his  never-ceasing  task  to  do. 

No  sooner  had  they  entered  the  harbor  than  a 
party  of  the  guards  of  King  Minos  came  down 
to  the  water  side,  and  took  charge  of  the  four- 
teen young  men  and  damsels.  Surrounded  by 
these  armed  warriors,  Prince  Theseus  and  his 
companions  were  led  to  the  king's  palace,  and 
ashered  into  his  presence.  Now,  Minos  was 
a  stern  and  pitiless  king.  If  the  figure  that 
guarded  Crete  was  made  of  brass,  then  the  mon- 
arch, who  ruled   over   it,  might   be  thought  to 


52  THE    MINOTAUR. 

have  a  still  harder  metal  in  his  breast,  a/.d  might 
have  been  called  a  man  of  iron.  He  bent  his 
shaggy  brows  upon  the  poor  Athenian  victims. 
Any  other  mortal,  beholding  their  fresh  and  ten- 
der beauty,  and  their  innocent  looks,  would  have 
felt  himself  sitting  on  thorns  until  he  had  made 
every  soul  of  them  happy,  by  bidding  them  go 
free  as  the  summer  wind.  But  this  immitigable 
Minos  cared  only  to  examine  whether  they  were 
plump  enough  to  satisfy  the  Minotaur's  appetite. 
For  my  part,  I  wish  he  himself  had  been  the 
only  victim  ;  and  the  monster  would  have  found 
him  a  pretty  tough  one. 

One  after  another.  King  Minos  called  these 
pale,  frightened  youths  and  sobbing  maidens  to 
his  footstool,  gave  them  each  a  poke  in  the  ribs 
with  his  sceptre,  (to  try  whether  they  were  in 
good  flesh  or  no,)  and  dismissed  them  with  a 
nod  to  his  guards.  But  when  his  eyes  rested  on 
Theseus,  the  king  looked  at  him  more  atten- 
tively, because  his  face  was  calm  and  brave. 

"  Young  man,"  asked  he,  with  his  stern  voice, 
"  are  you  not  appalled  at  the  certainty  of  being 
devoured  by  this  terrible  Minotaur  ?  " 

"  I  have  offered    my  life    in    a   good   cause," 


THE    MINOTAUR.  53 

answered  Theseus,  "  and  therefore  I  give  it 
freely  and  gladly.  But  thou,  King  Minos,  art 
thou  not  thyself  appalled,  who,  year  after  year, 
hast  perpetrated  this  dreadful  wrong,  by  giving 
seven  innocent  youths  and  as  many  maidens 
to  be  devoured  by  a  monster  ?  Dost  thou  not 
tremble,  wicked  king,  to  turn  thine  eyes  inward 
on  thine  own  heart  ?  Sitting  there  on  thy  golden 
throne,  and  in  thy  robes  of  majesty,  I  tell  thee 
to  thy  face,  King  Minos,  thou  art  a  more  hideous 
monster  than  the  Minotaur  himself  I" 

"  Aha  !  do  you  think  me  so  ?  "  cried  the  king, 
laughing  in  his  cruel  way.  "  To-morrow,  at 
breakfast  time,  you  shall  have  an  opportuni- 
ty of  judging  which  is  the  greater  monster, 
the  Minotaur  or  the  king  I  Take  them  away, 
guards ;  and  let  this  free-spoken  youth  be  the 
Minotaur's  first  morsel ! " 

Near  the  king's  throne  (though  I  had  no 
time  to  tell  you  so  before)  stood  his  daughter 
Ariadne.  She  was  a  beautiful  and  tender-heart- 
ed maiden,  and  looked  at  these  poor  doomed 
captives  with  very  different  feeHngs  from  those 
of  the  iron-breasted  King  Minos.  She  really 
wept,  indeed,  at  the  idea  of   how  much   human 


M  THE    MINOTAUR. 

happiness  would  be  needlessly  thrown  away,  by 
giving  so  many  young  people,  in  the  first  bloom 
and  rose  blossom  of  their  lives,  to  be  eaten  up 
by  a  creature  who,  no  doubt,  would  have  pre- 
ferred a  fat  ox,  or  even  a  large  pig,  to  the 
plumpest  of  them.  And  when  she  beheld  the 
brave,  spirited  figure  of  Prince  Theseus  bearing 
himself  so  calmly  in  his  terrible  peril,  she  grew 
a  hundred  times  more  pitiful  than  before.  As 
the  guards  were  taking  him  away,  she  flung 
herself  at  the  king's  feet,  and  besought  him  to 
set  all  the  captives  free,  and  especially  this  one 
young  man. 

"  Peace,  foolish  girl  I  "  answered  King  Minos. 
"  What  hast  thou  to  do  with  an  affair  like  this? 
It  is  a  matter  of  state  policy,  and  therefore  quite 
beyond  thy  weak  comprehension.  Go  water 
thy  flowers,  and  think  no  more  of  these  Athe- 
nian caitifls,  whom  the  Minotaur  shall  as  cer- 
tainly eat  up  for  breakfast  as  I  will  eat  a  par- 
tridge for  my  sapper." 

So  saying,  the  king  looked  cruel  enough  to 
devour  Theseus  and  all  the  rest  of  the  captives, 
himself,  had  there  been  no  Minotaur  to  save  him 
the   trouble.       As   he   would    hear   not   another 


THE    MINOTAUR.  55 

word  in  their  favor,  the  prisoners  were  now  leJ 
away,  and  clapped  into  a  dungeon,  where  the 
jailer  advised  them  to  go  to  sleep  as  soon  as 
possible,  because  the  Minotaur  was  in  the  habit 
of  calling  for  breakfast  early.  The  seven  maid- 
ens and  six  of  the  young  men  soon  sobbed 
themselves  to  slumber.  But  Theseus  was  not 
like  them.  He  felt  conscious  that  he  was  wiser, 
and  braver,  and  stronger  than  his  companions, 
and  that  therefore  he  had  the  responsibility  of 
all  their  lives  upon  him,  and  must  consider 
whether  there  was  no  way  to  save  them,  even  in 
this  last  extremity.  So  he  kept  himself  awake, 
and  paced  to  and  fro  across  the  gloomy  dungeon 
in  which  they  were  shut  up. 

Just  before  midnight,  the  door  was  softly  un- 
barred, and  the  gentle  Ariadne  showed  herself, 
with  a  torch  in  her  hand. 

"Are  you  awake,  Prince  Theseus?"  she 
whispered. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Theseus.  "  With  so  little 
time  to  live,  I  do  not  choose  to  waste  any  of  it 
in  sleep." 

"  Then  follow  me,"  said  Ariadne,  "  and  tread 
softly." 


56 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


What  had  become  of  the  jailer  and  the  guards, 
Theseus  never  knew.  But,  however  that  might 
be,  Ariadne  opened  all  the  doors,  and  led  him 
forth  from  the  darksome  prison  into  the  pleasant 
moonlight. 

"Theseus,"  said  the  maiden,  "you  can  now 
get  on  board  your  vessel,  and  sail  away  for 
Athens." 

"  No,"  answered  the  young  man  ;  "  I  will 
never  leave  Crete  unless  I  can  first  slay  the 
Minotaur,  and  save  my  poor  companions,  and 
deliver  Athens  from  this  cruel  tribute." 

"  I  knew  that  this  would  be  your  resolution," 
said  Ariadne.  "  Come,  then,  with  me,  brave 
Theseus.  Here  is  your  own  sword,  which  the 
guards  deprived  you  of.  You  will  need  it ;  and 
pray  Heaven  you  may  use  it  well." 

Then  she  led  Theseus  along  by  the  hand  un- 
til they  came  to  a  dark,  shadowy  grove,  where 
the  moonlight  wasted  itself  on  the  tops  of  the 
trees^  without  shedding  hardly  so  much  as  a 
glimmering  beam  upon  their  pathway.  After 
going  a  good  way  through  this  obscurity,  they 
reached  a  high,  marble  wall,  which  was  over- 
grown with  cr  jcping  plants,  that  made  it  shaggy 


THE    MINOTAUR.  57 

with  their  verdure.  The  wall  seemed  to  have 
no  door,  nor  any  windows,  but  rose  up,  lofty, 
and  massive,  and  mysterious,  and  was  neither 
to  be  clambered  over,  nor,  so  far  as  Theseus 
could  perceive,  to  be  passed  through.  Neverthe- 
less, Ariadne  did  but  press  one  of  her  soft  little 
fingers  against  a  particular  block  of  marble,  and, 
though  it  looked  as  solid  as  any  other  part  of 
the  wall,  it  yielded  to  her  touch,  disclosing 
an  entrance  just  wide  enough  to  admit  them. 
They  crept  through,  and  the  marble  stone  swung 
back  into  its  place. 

"  We  are  now,"  said  Ariadne,  "  in  the  famous 
labyrinth  which  Dajdalus  built  before  he  made 
himself  a  pair  of  wings,  and  flew  away  from  our 
island  like  a  bird.  That  Daedalus  was  a  very 
cunning  workman;  but  of  all  his  artful  con- 
trivances, this  labyrinth  is  the  most  wondrous. 
Were  we  to  take  but  a  few  steps  from  the  door- 
way, we  might  wander  about  all  our  lifetime, 
and  never  find  it  again.  Yet  in  the  very  centre 
of  this  labyrinth  is  the  Minotaur;  and,  Theseus, 
you  must  go  thither  to  seek  him." 

*'  But  how  shall  I  ever  find  him,"  asked  The- 
seus, "if  the  labyrinth  so  bewilders  me  as  yoa 
say  it  will  ?  " 


58 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


Just  as  he  spoke,  they  heard  a  rough  and  very 
disagreeable  roar,  which  greatly  resembled  the 
lowing  of  a  fierce  bull,  but  yet  had  some  sort  of 
sound  like  the  human  voice.  Theseus  even  fan- 
cied a  rude  articulation  in  it,  as  if  the  creature  that 
uttered  it  were  trying  to  shape  his  hoarse  breath 
into  words.  It  was  at  some  distance,  however, 
and  he  really  could  not  tell  whether  it  sounded 
most  like  a  bull's  roar  or  a  man's  harsh  voice. 

*'  That  is  the  Minotaur's  noise,"  whispered 
Ariadne,  closely  grasping  the  hand  of  Theseus, 
and  pressing  one  of  her  own  hands  to  her  heart, 
which  was  all  in  a  tremble.  "  You  must  follow 
that  sound  through  the  windings  of  the  labyrinth, 
and,  by  and  by,  you  will  find  him.  Stay  !  take 
the  end  of  this  silken  string ;  I  will  hold  the  other 
end  ;  and  then,  if  you  win  the  victory,  it  will 
lead  you  again  to  this  spot.  Farewell,  brave 
Theseus." 

So  the  young  man  took  the  end  of  the  silken 
string  in  his  left  hand,  and  his  gold-hilted  sword, 
ready  drawn  from  its  scabbard,  in  the  other,  and 
trod  boldly  into  the  inscrutable  labyrinth.  How 
this  labyrinth  was  built  is  more  than  I  can  tell 
you.     But   so    cunningly  contrived   a   mizmaze 


THE    MINOTAUR.  59 

was  never  seen  in  the  world,  before  nor  since. 
There  can  be  nothing  else  so  intricate,  unless  it 
were  the  brain  of  a  man  like  Dsedalus,  who 
planned  it,  or  the  heart  of  any  ordinary  man ; 
which  last,  to  be  sure,  is  ten  times  as  great  a 
mystery  as  the  labyrinth  of  Crete.  Theseus  had 
not  taken  five  steps  before  he  lost  sight  of  Ari- 
adne ;  and  in  five  more  his  head  was  growing 
dizzy.  But  still  he  went  on,  now  creeping 
through  a  low  arch,  now  ascending  a  flight  of 
steps,  now  in  one  crooked  passage,  and  now  in 
another,  with  here  a  door  opening  before  him, 
and  there  one  banging  behind,  until  it  really 
seemed  as  if  the  walls  spun  round,  and  whirled 
him  round  along  with  them.  And  all  the  while, 
through  these  hollow  avenues,  now  nearer,  now 
farther  off  again,  resounded  the  cry  of  the  Mino- 
taur; and  the  sound  was  so  fierce,  so  cruel,  so 
ugly,  so  like  a  bull's  roar,  and  withal  so  like  a 
human  voice,  and  yet  like  neither  of  them,  that 
the  brave  heart  of  Theseus  grew  sterner  and 
angrier  at  every  step  ;  for  he  felt  it  an  insult 
to  the  moon  and  sky,  and  to  our  affectionate 
and  simple  Mother  Earth,  that  such  a  monster 
should  have  the  audacity  to  exist. 


60 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


As  he  passed  onward,  the  c.ouds  gathered 
over  the  moon,  and  the  labyrinth  grew  so  dusky 
that  Theseus  could  no  longer  discern  the  bewil- 
derment through  w^hich  he  was  passing.  Ho 
would  have  felt  quite  lost,  and  utterly  hopeless 
of  ever  again  walking  in  a  straight  path,  if, 
every  little  while,  he  had  not  been  conscious  of 
a  gentle  twitch  at  the  silken  cord.  Then  he 
knew  that  the  tender-hearted  i  riadne  was  still 
holding  the  other  end,  and  that  she  was  fearing 
for  him,  and  hoping  for  him,  and  giving  him 
just  as  much  of  her  sympathy  as  if  she  were 
close  by  his  side.  O,  indeed,  I  can  assure  you, 
there  was  a  vast  deal  of  human  sympathy  run- 
ning along  that  slender  thread  of  silk.  But  still 
he  followed  the  dreadful  roar  of  the  Minotaur, 
which  now  grew  louder  and  louder,  and  finally 
so  very  loud  that  Theseus  fully  expected  to 
come  close  upon  him,  at  every  new  zigzag  and 
wriggle  of  the  path.  And  at  last,  in  an  open 
space,  at  the  very  centre  of  the  labyrinth,  he  did 
discern  the  hideous  creature. 

Sure  enough,  what  an  ugly  monster  it  was! 
Only  his  horned  head  belonged  to  a  bnll ;  and 
yet,  somehow  or  other,  \\ki  looked  like  a  bull  all 


THE    MINOTAUR.  61 

over,  preposterously  waddling  on  his  hind  legs ; 
or,  if  you  happened  to  view  him  in  anothei  way, 
he  seemed  wholly  a  man,  and  all  the  more  mon- 
strous for  being  so.  And  there  he  was,  the 
wretched  thing,  with  no  society,  no  companion, 
no  kind  of  a  mate,  living  only  to  do  mischief, 
and  incapable  of  knowing  what  affection  means 
Theseus  hated  him,  and  shuddered  at  him,  and 
yet  could  not  but  be  sensible  of  some  sort  of 
pity ;  and  all  the  rnore,  the  uglier  and  more  de- 
testable the  creature  was.  For  he  kept  striding 
to  and  fro,  in  a  solitary  frenzy  of  rage,  continu- 
ally emitting  a  hoarse  roar,  which  was  oddly 
mixed  up  with  half-shaped  words;  and,  after 
listening  a  while,  Theseus  understood  that  the 
Minotaur  was  saying  to  himself  how  miserable 
he  was,  and  how  hungry,  and  how  he  hated 
every  body,  and  how  he  longed  to  eat  up  the 
human  race  alive. 

Ah,  the  bull-headed  villain  !  And  O,  my  good 
little  people,  you  will  perhaps  see,  one  of  these 
days,  as  I  do  now,  that  every  human  being  who 
suffers  any  thing  evil  to  get  into  his  nature,  or 
to  remain  there,  is  a  kind  of  Minotaur,  an  ene- 
my of  his  fellow-creatures,  and  separated  from 


62  THE    MINOTAUR. 

all  good  companionship,  as  this  poor  monster 
was. 

Was  Theseus  afraid  ?  By  no  means,  my  dear 
auditors.  What  I  a  hero  like  Theseus  afraid  I 
Not  had  the  Minotaur  had  twenty  bull  heads 
instead  of  one.  Bold  as  he  was,  however,  I 
rather  fancy  that  it  strengthened  his  valiant 
heart,  just  at  this  crisis,  to  feel  a  tremulous 
twitch  at  the  silken  cord,  which  he  was  still  hold- 
ing in  his  left  hand.  It  was  as  if  Ariadne  were 
giving  him  all  her  might  and  courage ;  and, 
much  as  he  already  had,  and  little  as  she  had 
to  give,  it  made  his  own  seem  twice  as  much. 
And  to  confess  the  honest  truth,  he  needed  the 
whole ;  for  now  the  Minotaur,  turning  suddenly 
about,  caught  sight  of  Theseus,  and  instantly 
lowered  his  horribly  sharp  horns,  exactly  as  a 
mad  bull  does  when  he  means  to  rush  against 
an  enemy.  At  the  same  time,  he  belched  forth 
a  tremendous  roar,  in  which  there  was  some- 
thing like  the  words  of  human  language,  but 
all  disjointed  and  shaken  to  pieces  by  passing 
through  the  gullet  of  a  miserably  enraged  brute. 

Theseus  could  only  guess  what  the  creature 
intended  to  say,  and  that  ratlier  by  his  gestures 


THE*  MINOTAUR.  63 

than  his  words ;  for  the  Minotaur's  horns  were 
sharper  than  his  wits,  and  of  a  gi-eat  deal  more 
s'^rvice  to  him  than  his  tongue.  But  probably 
this  was  the  sense  of  what  he  uttered  :  — 

"  Ah,  wretch  of  a  human  being !  I'll  stick  my 
horns  tlirough  you,  and  toss  you  fifty  feet  high, 
and  eat  you  up  the  moment  you  come  down." 

"  Come  on,  then,  and  try  it ! "  was  all  that 
Theseus  deigned  to  reply ;  for  he  was  far  too 
magnanimous  to  assault  his  enemy  with  inso- 
lent language. 

Without  more  words  on  either  side,  there  en- 
sued the  most  awful  fight  between  Theseus  and 
the  Minotaur  that  ever  happened  beneath  the 
sun  or  moon.  I  really  know  not  how  it  might 
have  turned  out,  if  the  monster,  in  his  first  head- 
long rush  against  Theseus,  had  not  missed  him, 
by  a  hair's  breadth,  and  broken  one  of  his  horns 
short  off"  against  the  stone  wall.  On  this  mis- 
hap, he  bellowed  so  intolerably  that  a  part  of 
the  labyrinth  tumbled  down,  and  all  the  in- 
habitants of  Crete  mistook  the  noise  for  an 
uncommonly  heavy  thunder  storm.  Smarting 
with  the  pain,  he  galloped  around  the  open 
space    in    so    ridiculous    a   way  that  Theseus 


64 


THE    MINOTAUR. 


laughed  at  it,  long  afterwards,  though  not  pre 
fiisely  at  the  moment.  After  this,  the  two  an 
tagonists  stood  valiantly  up  to  one  another,  and 
fought,  sword  to  horn,  for  a  long  while.  At 
last,  the  Minotaur  made  a  run  at  Theseus, 
gi'azed  his  left  side  with  his  horn,  and  flung  him 
down ;  and  thinking  that  he  had  stabbed  him  to 
the  heart,  he  cut  a  great  caper  in  the  air,  opened 
his  bull  mouth  from  ear  to  ear,  and  prepared  to 
snap  his  head  off.  But  Theseus  by  this  time 
had  leaped  up,  and  caught  the  monster  off  his 
guard.  Fetching  a  sword  stroke  at  him  with 
all  his  force,  he  hit  him  fair  upon  the  neck,  and 
made  his  bull  head  skip  six  yards  from  his  hu- 
man body,  which  fell  down  flat  upon  the  ground. 
So  now  the  battle  was  ended.  Immediately 
the  moon  shone  out  as  brightly  as  if  all  the 
troubles  of  the  world,  and  all  the  wickedness  and 
the  ugliness  that  infest  human  life,  were  past 
and  gone  forever.  And  Theseus,  as  he  leaned 
on  his  sword,  taking  breath,  felt  another  twitch 
of  the  silken  cord ;  for  all  through  the  terrible 
encounter,  he  had  held  it  fast  in  his  left  hand. 
Eager  to  let  Ariadne  know  of  his  success, 
he   followed   the    guidance   of   the  thread,  and 


^ET^^. 


Theseus  and  the  Minotaur.         p.  64, 


THE    MINOTAUR.  65 

soun  found  himself  at  the  entrance  of  the 
labyrinth. 

"  Thou  hast  slain  the  monster,"  cried  AriadnCj 
clasping  her  hands. 

"  Thanks  to  thee,  dear  Ariadne,"  answered 
Theseus,  "  I  return  victorious." 

"  Then,"  said  Ariadne,  "  we  must  quickly 
summon  thy  friends,  and  get  them  and  thyself 
on  board  the  vessel  before  dawn.  If  morning 
finds  thee  here,  my  father  will  avenge  the 
Minotaur." 

To  make  my  story  short,  the  poor  captives 
were  awakened,  and,  hardly  knowing  whether 
it  was  not  a  joyful  dream,  were  told  of  what 
Theseus  had  done,  and  that  they  must  set  sail 
for  Athens  before  daybreak.  Hastening  down 
to  the  vessel,  they  all  clambered  on  board,  ex- 
cept Prince  Theseus,  who  lingered  behind  them, 
on  the  strand,  holding  Ariadne's  hand  clasped 
in  his  own. 

"  Dear  maiden,"  said  he,  "  thou  wilt  surely 
go  with  us.  Thou  art  too  gentle  and  sweet 
a  child  for  such  an  iron-hearted  father  as  King 
Minos.  He  cares  no  more  for  thee  than  a 
granite  rock  cares  for  the  little  flower  that 
"     5 


66  THE    MINOTAUR. 

grows  in  one  of  its  crevices.  But  my  father, 
King  ^geus,  and  my  dear  mother,  ^Ethra, 
and  all  the  fathers  and  mothers  in  Athens, 
and  all  the  sons  and  daughters  too,  will  love 
and  honor  thee  as  their  benefactress.  Come 
with  us,  then ;  for  King  Minos  will  be  very 
angiy  when    he    knows  what  thou    hast  done." 

Now,  some  low-minded  people,  who  pretend 
to  tell  the  story  of  Theseus  and  Ariadne,  have 
the  face  to  say  that  this  royal  and  honorable 
maiden  did  really  flee  away,  under  cover  of 
the  night,  with  the  young  stranger  whose  life 
she  had  preserved.  They  say,  too,  that  Prince 
Theseus  (who  would  have  died  sooner  than 
wrong  the  meanest  creature  in  the  world)  un- 
gratefully deserted  Ariadne,  on  a  solitary  island, 
where  the  vessel  touched  on  its  voyage  to 
Athens.  But,  had  the  noble  Theseus  heard 
these  falsehoods,  he  would  have  served  their 
slanderous  authors  as  he  served  the  Minotaur! 
Here  is  what  Ariadne  answered,  when  the  brave 
prince  of  Athens  besought  her  to  accompany 
him :  — 

"  No,  Theseus,"  the  maiden  said,  pressing  his 
hand,  and    then   drawing   back   a  step  or  two. 


THE    MINOTAUR.  67 

"  I  cannot  go  with  you.  My  father  is  old,  and 
has  nobody  but  myself  to  love  him.  Hard  as 
you  think  his  heart  is,  it  would  break  to  lose 
me.  At  first,  King  Minos  will  be  angry ;  but 
he  will  soon  forgive  his  only  child ;  and,  by 
and  by,  he  will  rejoice,  I  know,  that  no  more 
youths  and  maidens  must  come  from  Athens 
to  be  devoured  by  the  Minotaur.  I  have  saved 
you,  Theseus,  as  much  for  my  father's  sake  as 
for  your  own.    Farewell!     Heaven  bless  you!" 

All  this  was  so  true,  and  so  maiden-like,  and 
was  spoken  with  so  sweet  a  dignity,  that  The- 
seus would  have  blushed  to  urge  her  any  longer. 
Nothing  remained  for  him,  therefore,  but  to  bid 
Ariadne  an  affectionate  farewell,  and  to  go  on 
board  the  vessel,  and  set  sail. 

In  a  few  moments  the  white  foam  was  boil- 
ing up  before  their  prow,  as  Prince  Theseus 
and  his  companions  sailed  out  of  the  harbor, 
with  a  whistling  breeze  behind  them.  Talus, 
the  brazen  giant,  on  his  never-ceasing  sentinel's 
march,  happened  to  be  approaching  that  part 
of  the  coast;  and  they  saw  him,  by  the  glimmer- 
ing of  the  moonbeams  on  his  polished  surface, 
while   he   was   yet   a   great   way   off.     As   the 


68  THE    MINOTAUR. 

figure  moved  like  clockwork,  however,  and  could 
neither  hasten  his  enormous  strides  nor  retard 
them,  he  arrived  at  the  port  when  they  were 
just  beyond  the  reach  of  his  club.  Neverthe- 
less, straddling  from  headland  to  headland,  as 
his  custom  was,  Talus  attempted  to  strike  a 
blow  at  the  vessel,  and,  overreaching  himself, 
tumbled  at  full  length  into  the  sea,  which 
splashed  high  over  his  gigantic  shape,  as  when 
an  iceberg  turns  a  somerset.  There  he  lies  yet ; 
and  whoever  desires  to  enrich  himself  by  means 
of  brass  had  better  go  thither  with  a  diving  bell, 
and  fish  up  Talus. 

On  the  homeward  voyage,  the  fourteen  youths 
and  damsels  were  in  excellent  spirits,  as  you 
will  easily  suppose.  They  spent  most  of  their 
time  in  dancing,  unless  when  the  sidelong 
breeze  made  the  deck  slope  too  much.  In  due 
season,  they  came  within  sight  of  the  coast  of 
Attica,  which  was  their  native  country.  But 
licre,  I  am  grieved  to  tell  you,  happened  a 
sad    misfortune. 

You  will  remember  (what  Theseus  unfortu- 
nately forgot)  that  his  father.  King  iEgeus, 
had   enjoined   it   upon    him    to   hoist   sunshiny 


THE    MINOTAUR.  69 

sails,  instead  of  blade  ones,  in  case  he  should 
overcome  the  Minotaur,  and  return  victorious. 
In  the  joy  of  their  success,  however,  and  amidst 
the  sports,  dancing,  and  other  merriment,  with 
which  these  young  folks  wore  away  the  time, 
they  never  once  thought  whether  their  sails 
were  black,  white,  or  rainbow  colored,  and,  in- 
deed, left  it  entirely  to  the  mariners  whether  they 
had  any  sails  at  all.  Thus  the  vessel  returned, 
like  a  raven,  with  the  same  sable  wings  that 
had  wafted  her  away.  But  poor  King  ^geus, 
day  after  day,  infirm  as  he  was,  had  clambered 
to  the  summit  of  a  cliff  that  overhung  the  sea, 
and  there  sat  watching  for  Prince  Theseus, 
homeward  bound ;  and  no  sooner  did  he  be- 
hold the  fatal  blackness  of  the  sails,  than  he 
concluded  that  his  dear  son,  whom  he  loved 
so  much,  and  felt  so  proud  of,  had  been  eaten 
by  the  Minotaur.  He  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  living  any  longer ;  so,  first  flinging 
his  crown  and  sceptre  into  the  sea,  (useless 
bawbles  that  they  were  to  him  now !)  King 
-^geus  merely  stooped  forward,  and  fell  head- 
long over  the  cliff,  and  was  drowned,  poor  soul, 
in  the  waves  that  foamed  at  its  base ! 


70  THE    MINOTAUR. 

This  was  melancholy  news  for  Prince  Theseus, 
who,  when  he  stepped  ashore,  found  himself 
king  of  all  the  country,  whether  he  would  or 
no ;  and  such  a  turn  of  fortune  was  enough 
to  make  any  young  man  feel  very  much  out 
of  spirits.  However,  he  sent  for  his  dear  mother 
to  Athens,  and,  by  taking  her  advice  in  mat- 
ters of  state,  became  a  very  excellent  monarch, 
and  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  people. 


THE    PYGMIES.  71 


THE     PYGMIES. 


A  GREAT  while  ago,  when  the  world  was  fulJ 
of  wonders,  there  lived  an  earth-born  Giant, 
named  Antaeus,  and  a  million  or  more  of  curious 
little  earth-born  people,  who  were  called  Pyg- 
mies. This  Giant  and  these  Pygmies  being  chil- 
dren of  the  same  mother,  (that  is  to  say,  our 
good  old  Grandmother  Earth,)  were  all  brethren, 
and  dwelt  together  in  a  very  friendly  and  affec- 
tionate manner,  far,  far  off,  in  the  middle  of  hot 
Africa.  The  Pygmies  were  so  small,  and  there 
were  so  many  sandy  deserts  and  such  high 
mountains  between  them  and  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, that  nobody  could  get  a  peep  at  them 
oftener  than  once  in  a  hundred  years.  As  for 
the  Giant,  being  of  a  very  lofty  stature,  it  was 
easy  enough  to  S3e  him,  but  safest  to  keep  out 
of  his  sight. 


72  THE    PYGMIES. 

Among  the  Pygmies,  I  suppose,  J  one  of  them 
grew  to  the  height  of  six  or  eight  inches,  he  was 
reckoned  a  prodigiously  tall  man.  It  must  have 
been  very  pretty  to  behold  their  little  cities,  with 
streets  two  or  three  feet  wide,  paved  with  the 
smallest  pebbles,  and  bordered  by  habitations 
about  as  big  as  a  squirrel's  cage.  The  king's 
palace  attained  to  the  stupendous  magnitude  of 
Periwinkle's  baby  house,  and  stood  in  the  centre 
of  a  spacious  square,  which  could  hardly  have 
been  covered  by  our  hearth  rug.  Their  prin- 
cipal temple,  or  cathedral,  was  as  lofty  as  yon- 
der bureau,  and  was  looked  upon  as  a  wonder- 
fully sublime  and  magnificent  edifice.  All  these 
structures  were  built  neither  of  stone  nor  wood. 
They  were  neatly  plastered  together  by  the  Pyg- 
my workmen,  pretty  much  like  birds'  nests,  out 
of  straw,  feathers,  egg  shells,  and  other  small 
bits  of  stuff,  with  stiff"  clay  instead  of  mortar : 
and  when  the  hot  sun  had  dried  them,  they  were 
just  as  snug  and  comfortable  as  a  Pygmy  could 
desire. 

The  country  round  about  was  conveniently 
laid  out  in  fields,  the  largest  of  which  was  nearly 
of  the  same  extent  as  one  of  Sweet  Fern's  flower 


THE    PYGM  ES.  73 

beds.  Here  the  Pygmies  used  to  plant  wheat 
and  other  kinds  of  grain,  which,  when  it  grew 
up  and  ripened,  overshadowed  these  tiny  people, 
as  the  pines,  and  the  oaks,  and  the  walnut  and 
chestnut  trees  overshadow  you  and  me,  when 
we  walk  in  our  own  tracts  of  woodland.  At 
harvest  time,  they  were  forced  to  go  with  their 
little  axes  and  cut  down  the  grain,  exactly  as  a 
woodcutter  makes  a  clearing  in  the  forest;  and 
when  a  stalk  of  wheat,  with  its  overburdened 
top,  chanced  to  come  crashing  down  upon  an 
unfortunate  Pygmy,  it  was  apt  to  be  a  very  sad 
affair.  If  it  did  not  smash  him  all  to  pieces,  at 
least,  I  am  sure,  it  must  have  made  the  poor 
little  fellow's  head  ache.  And  O,  my  stars !  if 
the  fathers  and  mothers  were  so  small,  what 
must  the  children  and  babies  have  been  ?  A 
whole  family  of  them  might  have  been  put  to 
bed  in  a  shoe,  or  have  crept  into  an  old  glove, 
and  played  at  hide  and  seek  in  its  thumb  and 
fingers.  You  might  have  hidden  a  year-old  baby 
under  a  thimble. 

Now  these  funny  Pygmies,  as  I  told  you  be- 
fore, had  a  Giant  for  their  neighbor  and  brother, 
who  was  bigger,  if  possible,  than  they  were  little. 


74  THE    PVG.NlIES. 

He  was  so  very  tall  tha':  he  carried  a  pine  tree, 
which  was  eight  feet  through  the  but,  for  a  walk- 
ing ytick.  It  took  a  far-sighted  Pygmy,  I  can 
assure  you,  to  discern  his  summit  without  the 
help  of  a  telescope ;  and  sometimes,  in  misty 
weather,  they  could  not  see  his  upper  half,  but 
only  his  long  legs,  which  seemed  to  be  striding 
about  by  themselves.  But  at  noonday,  in  a 
clear  atmosphere,  when  the  sun  shone  brightly 
over  him,  the  Giant  Antaeus  presented  a  ver}" 
grand  spectacle.  There  he  used  to  stand,  a  per- 
fect mountain  of  a  man,  with  his  great  counte- 
nance smiling  down  upon  his  little  brothers,  and 
his  one  vast  eye  (which  was  as  big  as  a  cart 
wheel,  and  placed  right  in  the  centre  of  his  fore- 
head) giving  a  friendly  wink  to  the  whole  nation 
at  once. 

The  Pygmies  loved  to  talk  with  Antaeus  ;  and 
fifty  times  a  day,  one  or  another  of  them  would 
turn  up  his  head,  and  shout  through  the  hollow 
of  his  fists,  "  Halloo,  brother  Antaeus  I  How 
are  you,  my  good  fellow  ? "  And  when  the 
small,  distant  squeak  of  their  voices  reached  his 
ear,  the  Giant  would  make  answer,  "  Pretty 
well,  brother   Pygmy,   I  thank  you,"  in  a  thun- 


THE    PYGMIES.  75 

dei'ous  roar  that  would  have  shaken  down  the. 
walls  of  their  strongest  temple,  only  that  it  came 
from  so  far  aloft. 

It  was  a  happy  circumstance  that  Antaeus 
was  the  Pygmy  people's  friend ;  for  there  was 
more  strength  in  his  little  finger  than  in  ten  mil- 
lion of  such  bodies  as  this.  If  he  had  been  as 
ill  natured  to  them  as  he  was  to  every  body  else, 
he  might  have  beaten  down  their  biggest  city  at 
one  kick,  and  hardly  have  known  that  he  did  it. 
With  the  tornado  of  his  breath,  he  could  have 
stripped  the  roofs  from  a  hundred  dwellings, 
and  sent  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  whirling 
through  the  air.  Ke  might  have  set  his  im- 
mense foot  upon  a  multitude ;  and  when  he  took 
it  up  again,  there  would  have  been  a  pitiful 
si^ht,  to  be  sure.  But,  being  the  son  of  Mother 
Earth,  as  they  likewise  were,  the  Giant  gave 
them  his  brotherly  kindness,  and  loved  them 
with  as  big  a  love  as  it  was  possible  to  feel  for, 
creatures  so  very  small.  And,  on  their  parts, 
the  Pygmies  loved  Antaeus  with  as  much  affec- 
tion as  their  tiny  hearts  could  hold.  He  was 
always  ready  to  do  them  any  good  offices  that 
lay  in    his  power ;  as   for  example,  when  they 


76  THE    PYGMIES. 

wanted  a  brteze  to  turn  their  wind  mills,  the 
Giant  would  set  all  the  sails  a-going  with  the 
mere  natural  respiration  of  his  lungs.  When 
the  sun  was  too  hot,  he  often  sat  himself  down, 
and  let  his  shadow  fall  over  the  kingdom,  from 
one  frontier  to  the  other ;  and  as  for  matters  in 
general,  he  was  wise  enough  to  let  them  alone, 
and  leave  the  Pygmies  to  manage  their  own 
affairs  —  which,  after  all,  is  about  the  best  thing 
that  great  people  can  do  for  little  ones. 

In  short,  as  I  said  before,  Antaeus  loved  the 
Pygmies,  and  the  Pygmies  loved  Antaeus.  The 
Giant's  life  being  as  long  as  his  body  was  large, 
while  the  lifetime  of  a  Pygmy  was  but  a  span, 
this  friendly  intercourse  had  been  going  on  for 
innumerable  generations  and  ages.  It  was 
written  about  in  the  Pygmy  histories,  and 
talked  about  in  their  ancient  traditions.  The 
most  venerable  and  white-bearded  Pygmy  had 
never  heard  of  a  time,  even  in  his  greatest  of 
grandfather's  days,  when  the  Giant  was  not 
their  enormous  friend.  Once,  to  be  sure,  (as 
was  recorded  on  an  obelisk,  three  feet  high, 
erected  on  the  place  of  the  Catastrophe, )  Antaeus 
sat   down  upon   about  five   thousand  Pygmies, 


THE    PYGMIES.  77 

who  were  assembled  at  a  military  review.  But 
this  was  one  of  those  unlucky  accidents  for 
which  nobody  is  to  blame ;  so  that  the  small 
folks  never  took  it  to  heart,  and  only  requested 
the  Giant  to  be  careful  forever  afterwards 
to  examine  the  acre  of  ground  where  he  in- 
tended to   squat  himself. 

It  is  a  very  pleasant  picture  to  imagine 
Antaeus  standing  among  the  Pygmies,  like  the 
spire  of  the  tallest  cathedral  that  ever  was  built, 
while  they  ran  about  like  pismires  at  his  feet ; 
and  to  think  that,  in  spite  of  their  difference 
in  size,  there  were  affection  and  sympathy  be- 
tween them  and  him  !  Indeed,  it  has  always 
seemed  to  me  that  the  Giant  needed  the  little 
people  more  than  the  Pygmies  needed  the 
Giant.  For,  unless  they  had  been  his  neigh- 
bors and  well  wishers,  and,  as  we  may  say,  his 
playfellows,  Antseus  would  not  have  had  a 
single  friend  in  the  world.  No  other  being  like  . 
himself  had  ever  been  created.  No  creature  of 
his  own  size  had  ever  talked  with  him,  in  thun- 
der-like accents,  face  to  face.  When  he  stood 
with  his  head  among  the  clouds,  he  was  quite 
alone,  and   had  been   so  for  hundreds  of  years, 


78  "  THE    PYGMIES. 

and  woa?d  be  so  forever.  Even  if  he  had  nnet 
another  Giant,  Antaeus  would  Jiave  fancied  the 
world  not  big  enough  for  two  such  vast  person- 
ages, and,  instead  of  being  friends  with  hinn, 
would  have  fought  him  till  one  of  the  two  was 
]diled.  But  with  the  Pygmies  he  was  the  most 
sportive,  and  humorous,  and  merry-hearted,  and 
sweet-tempered  old  Giant  that  ever  washed  his 
face  in  a  wet  cloud. 

His  little  friends,  like  all  other  small  people, 
had  a  great  opinion  of  their  own  importance, 
and  used  to  assume  quite  a  patronizing  air 
towards  the  Giant. 

"Poor  creature  I"  they  said  one  to  another. 
"  He  has  a  very  dull  time  of  it,  all  by  himself; 
and  we  ought  not  to  grudge  wasting  a  little  of 
our  precious  time  to  amuse  him.  He  is  not  half 
so  brigiit  as  we  are,  to  be  sure ;  and,  for  that 
reason,  he  needs  us  to  look  after  his  comfort 
and  happiness.  Let  us  be  kind  to  the  old  fel- 
low. Why,  if  Mother  Earth  had  not  been  very 
kind  to  ourselves,  we  might  all  have  been 
Giants   too." 

On  all  their  holidays,  the  Pygmies  had  ex- 
cellent sport  with   Antaeus      He  often  stretched 


THE    PYGMIES.  79 

himself  out  at  full  length  on  the  ground,  where 
he  looked  like  the  long  ridge  of  a  hill ;  and  it 
vvas  a  good  hour's  walk,  no  doubt,  for  a  short- 
legged  Pygmy  to  journey  from  head  to  foot  of 
the  Giant.  He  would  lay  down  his  great  hand 
tlat  on  the  grass,  and  challenge  the  tallest  of 
them  to  clamber  upon  it,  and  straddle  from 
finger  to  finger.  So  fearless  were  they,  that 
they  made  nothing  of  creeping  in  among  the 
folds  of  his  garments.  When  his  head  lay 
side  wise  on  the  earth,  they  would  march  boldly 
up,  and  peep  into  the  great  cavern  of  his  mouth, 
and  take  it  all  as  a  joke  (as  indeed  it  was 
meant)  when  Antaeus  gave  a  sudden  snap  with 
his  jaws,  as  if  he  were  going  to  swallow  fifty  of 
them  at  once.  You  would  have  laughed  to  see 
the  children  dodging  in  and  out  among  his  hair, 
or  swinging  from  his  beard.  It  is  impossible 
to  tell  half  of  the  funny  tricks  that  they  played 
with  their  huge  comrade  ;  but  I  do  not  know 
that  any  thing  was  more  curious  than  when 
a  party  of  boys  were  seen  running  races  on  his 
forehead,  to  try  which  of  them  could  get  first 
round  the  circle  of  his  one  great  eye.  It  was 
another  favorite  feat  with  them  to  march  along 


80  THE    PYGMIES. 

the  bridge  of  his  nose,  and  jump  down  upon  hia 
upper  lip. 

If  the  truth  must  be  told,  they  were  sometimes 
as  troublesome  to  the  Giant  as  a  swarm  of  ants 
or  mosquitoes,  especially  as  they  had  a  fondness 
for  mischief,  and  liked  to  prick  his  skin  with 
their  little  swords  and  lances,  to  see  how  thick 
and  tough  it  was.  But  Antaeus  took  it  all  kind- 
ly enough  ;  although,  once  in  a  while,  when  he 
happened  to  be  sleepy,  he  would  gi'umble  out  a 
peevish  word  or  two,  like  the  muttering  of  a 
tempest,  and  ask  them  to  have  done  with  their 
nonsense.  A  great  deal  oftener,  however,  he 
watched  their  merriment  and  gambols  until  his 
huge,  heavy,  clumsy  wits  were  completely 
stirred  up  by  them  ;  and  then  would  he  roar 
out  such  a  tremendous  volume  of  immeasura- 
ble laughter,  that  the  whole  nation  of  Pygmies 
had  to  put  their  hands  to  tlieir  ears,  else  it 
would  certainly  have  deafened  them. 

"  Ho!  hoi  ho!"  quoth  the  Giant,  shaking  his 
mountainous  sides.  "  What  a  funny  thing  it  is 
to  be  little  !  If  I  were  not  Anta-us,  I  should  like 
to  be  a  Pygmy,  just  for  the  joke's  sake." 

The    Pygmies  had  but  one  thing  to   trouble 


THE    PYGMIES.  81 

them  in  the  world.  They  were  co./istantly  at 
war  with  the  cranes,  and  had  always  been  so, 
ever  since  the  long-lived  Giant  could  remember. 
From  time  to  time,  very  terrible  battles  had  been 
fought,  in  which  sometimes  the  little  men  won 
the  victory,  and  sometimes  the  cranes.  Accord- 
ing to  some  historians,  the  Pygmies  used  to  go 
to  the  battle,  mounted  on  the  backs  of  goats  and 
rams;  but  such  animals  as  these  must  have  been 
far  too  big  for  Pygmies  to  ride  upon  ;  so  that,  I 
rather  suppose,  they  rode  on  squirrelback,  or  rab- 
bitback,  or  ratback,  or  perhaps  got  upon  hedge- 
hogs, whose  prickly  quills  would  be  very  terrible 
to  the  enemy.  However  this  might  be,  and 
whatever  creatures  the  Pygmies  rode  upon,  I  do 
not  doubt  that  they  made  a  formidable  appear- 
ance, armed  with  sw^ord  and  spear,  and  bow  and 
arrow,  blowing  their  tiny  trumpet,  and  shouting 
their  little  war  cry.  They  never  failed  to  exhort 
one  another  to  fight  bravely,  and  recollect  that 
the  world  had  its  eyes  upon  them  ;  although,  in 
simple  truth,  the  only  spectator  was  the  Giant 
Antaeus,  with  his  one,  great,  stupid  eye,  in  the 
middle  of  his  forehead. 

When  the  two  armies  joined  battle,  the  cranes 
6 


82  .     THE    PYGMIES. 

would  rush  forward,  flapping  their  wings  and 
stretching  out  their  necks,  and  would  perhaps 
snatch  up  some  of  the  Pygmies  crosswise  in 
their  beaks.  Whenever  this  happened,  it  was 
truly  an  awful  spectacle  to  see  those  little  men 
of  might  kicking  and  sprawling  in  the  air, 
and  at  last  disappearing  down  the  crane's  long, 
crooked  throat,  swallowed  up  alive.  A  hero, 
you  know,  must  hold  himself  in  readiness  for  any 
kind  of  fate ;  and  doubtless  the  glory  of  the 
thing  was  a  consolation  to  him,  even  in  the 
crane's  ejizzard.  If  Antaeus  observed  that  the 
battle  was  going  hard  against  his  little  allies, 
hev  generally  stopped  laughing,  and  ran  with 
mile-long  strides  to  their  assistance,  flourishing 
his  club  aloft  and  shouting  at  the  cranes,  who 
quacked  and  croaked,  and  retreated  as  fast  as 
they  could.  Then  the  Pygmy  army  would 
march  homeward  in  triumph,  attributing  the  vic- 
tory entirely  to  their  own  valor,  and  to  the  war- 
like skill  and  strategy  of  whomsoever  happened 
to  be  captain  general;  and  for  a  tedious  while 
afterwards,  nothing  would  be  heard  of  but  grand 
processions,  and  public  banquets,  and  brilliant 
illuminations,  and  shows  of  waxwork,  with  like- 


THE    PYGMIES.  83 

nesses  of  the  distinguished  officers,  as  small  as 
life. 

In  the  above-described  warfare,  if  a  Pygmy 
chanced  to  pluck  out  a  crane's  tail  feather,  it 
proved  a  very  great  feather  in  his  cap.  Once  or 
twice,  if  you  will  believe  me,  a  little  man  was 
made  chief  ruler  of  the  nation  for  no  other 
merit  in  the  world  than  bringing  home  such  a 
feather. 

But  I  have  now  said  enough  to  let  you  see 
what  a  gallant  little  people  these  were,  and  how 
happily  they  and  their  forefathers,  for  nobody 
knows  how  many  generations,  had.  lived  with  the 
immeasurable  Giant  Antaeus.  In  the  remaining 
part  of  the  story,  I  shall  tell  you  of  a  far  more 
astonishing  battle  than  any  that  was  fought  be- 
tween the  Pygmies  and  the  cranes. 

One  day  the  mighty  Antaeus  was  lolling  at 
full  length  among  his  little  friends.  His  pine 
tree  walking  stick  lay  on  the  ground,  close  by  his 
side.  His  head  was  in  one  part  of  the  kingdom, 
and  his  feet  extended  across  the  boundaries  of  an- 
other part ;  and  he  was  taking  whatever  comfort 
he  could  get,  while  the  Pygmies  scrambled  over 
him,  and  peeped  into  his  cavernous  mouth,  and 


84  THE     PYGMIES. 

played  among  his  hair.  Sometimes,  for  a  min- 
ute or  two,  the  Giant  dropped  asleep,  and  snored 
like  the  rush  of  a  whirlwind.  During  one  of  these 
little  bits  of  slumber,  a  Pygmy  chanced  to  climb 
upon  his  shoulder,  and  took  a  view  around  the 
horizon,  as  from  the  summit  of  a  hill ;  and  he 
beheld  something,  a  long  way  off,  w^hich  madf 
him  rub  the  bright  specks  of  his  eyes,  and  loci^ 
sharper  than  before.  At  first  he  mistook  it  for 
a  mountain,  and  wondered  how  it  had  grown  up 
so  suddenly  out  of  the  earth.  But  soon  he 
saw  the  mountain  move.  As  it  came  nearer  and 
nearer,  what  should  it  turn  out  to  be  but  a  hu- 
man shape,  not  so  big  as  Antaeus,  it  is  true, 
although  a  very  enormous  figure,  in  comparison 
with  Pygmies,  and  a  vast  deal  bigger  than  the 
men  whom  we  see  nowadays. 

When  the  Pygmy  was  quite  satisfied  that  his 
eyes  had  not  deceived  him,  he  scampered,  as  fast 
as  his  legs  would  carry  him,  to  the  Giant's  ear, 
and  stooping  over  its  cavity,  shouted  lustily 
into  it,  — 

"  Halloo,  brother  Antteus !  Get  up  this  min- 
ute, and  take  your  pine  tree  walking  stick  in 
your  hand.  Here  comes  another  Giant  to  havr 
a  tussle  with  you." 


THE    PYGMIES. 


85 


"Poll,  pohl"  grumbled  Antaeus,  only  half 
awake.  "  None  of  your  nonsense,  my  little  fel- 
low I  Don't  you  see  I'm  sleepy.  There  is  not 
a  Giant  on  earth  for  whom  I  would  take  the 
trouble  to  get  up." 

But  the  Pygmy  looked  again,  and  now  per- 
ceived that  the  stranger  was  coming  directly 
towards  the  prostrate  form  of  Antaeus.  With 
every  step,  he  looked  less  like  a  blue  mSlmtain, 
and  more  like  an  immensely  large  man.  He 
was  soon  so  nigh,  that  there  could  be  no  possi- 
ble mistake  about  the  matter.  There  he  was, 
with  the  sun  flaming  on  his  golden  helmet,  and 
flashing  from  his  polished  breastplate;  he  had  a 
sword  by  his  side,  and  a  lion's  skin  over  his 
back,  and  on  his  right  shoulder  he  carried  a  club, 
which  looked  bulkier  and  heavier  than  the  pine- 
tree  walking  stick  of  Antaeus. 

By  this  time,  the  whole  nation  of  Pygmies 
had  seen  the  new  wonder,  and  a  million  of  them 
set  up  a  shout,  all  together;  so  that  it  really 
made  quite  an  audible  squeak. 

"  Get  up,  Antaeus  I  Bestir  yourself,  you  lazy 
old  Giant!  Here  comes  another  Giant,  as 
strong  as  you  are,  to  fight  with  you." 


86  THE    PYGMIES. 

"Nonsense,    nonsensel"    growled    the   sleepy 
Giant.       "  I'll    have    my    nap    out,    come   who 


may." 

Still  the  stranger  drew  nearer;  and  now  the 
Pygmies  could  plainly  discern  that,  if  his  stature 
were  less  lofty  than  the  Giant's,  yet  his  shoul- 
ders were  even  broader.  And,  in  truth,  what  a 
pair  of  shoulders  they  must  have  been  I  As  I 
told  you,  a  long  while  ago,  they  once  upheld  the 
sky.  The  Pygmies,  being  ten  times  as  viva- 
cious as  their  great  numskull  of  a  brother,  could 
not  abide  the  Giant's  slow  movements,  and 
were  determined  to  have  him  on  his  feet.  So 
they  kept  shouting  to  him,  and  even  went  so  far 
as  to  prick  him  with  their  swords. 

"  Get  up,  get  up,  get  up  I  "  they  cried.  "  Up 
with  you,  lazy  bones  I  The  strange  Giant's  club 
is  bigger  than  your  own,  his  shoulders  are  the 
broadest,  and  we  think  him  the  stronger  of 
the  two." 

Antaeus  could  not  endure  to  have  it  said  that 
any  mortal  was  half  so  mighty  as  himself.  This 
latter  remark  of  the  Pygmies  pricked  him  deeper 
than  their  swords;  and,  sitting  up,  in  rather  a 
sulky  humor,   he  gave   a  gape  of  several  yards 


THE    PYGMIES. 


87 


wide,  rubbed  his  eyes,  and  finally  turned  his 
stupid  head  in  the  direction  whither  his  little 
friends  were  eagerly  pointing. 

No  sooner  did  he  set  eyes  on  the  stranger, 
than,  leaping  on  his  feet,  and  seizing  his  walking 
stick,  he  strode  a  mile  or  two  to  meet  him  ;  all 
the  while  brandishing  the  sturdy  pine  tree,  so 
that  it  whistled  through  the  air. 

"  Who  are  you?"  thundered  the  Giant.  "And 
what  do  you  want  in  my  dominions  ?  " 

There  was  one  strange  thing  about  Antaeus, 
of  which  I  have  not  yet  told  you,  lest,  hearing  of 
so  many  wonders  all  in  a  lump,  you  might  not 
believe  much  more  than  half  of  them.  You  are 
to  know,  then,  that  whenever  this  redoubtable 
Giant  touched  the  ground,  either  with  his  hand, 
his  foot,  or  any  other  part  of  his  body,  he  grew 
stronger  than  ever  he  had  been  before.  The 
Earth,  you  remember,  was  his  mother,  and  was 
very  fond  of  him,  as  being  almost  the  biggest  of 
her  children ;  and  so  she  took  this  method  of 
keeping  him  always  in  full  vigor.  Some  per- 
sons affirm  that  he  grew  ten  times  stronger  at 
every  touch ;  others  say  that  it  was  only  twice 
as   strong.      But  only  think  of  it!     Whenever 


88  THE    PYGMIES. 

Antaeus  took  a  walk,  supposing  it  were  but  ten 
miles,  and  that  he  stepped  a  hundred  yards  at  a 
stride,  you  may  try  to  cipher  out  how  much 
mightier  he  was,  on  sitting  down  again,  than 
when  he  first  started.  And  whenever  he  flung 
himself  on  the  earth  to  take  a  little  repose,  even 
if  he  got  up  the  very  next  instant,  he  would  be 
as  strong  as  exactly  ten  just  such  giants  as  his 
former  self.  It  was  well  for  the  world  that  An- 
taeus happened  to  be  of  a  sluggish  disposition, 
and  liked  ease  better  than  exercise ;  for,  if  he 
had  frisked  about  like  the  Pygmies,  and  touched 
the  earth  as  often  as  they  did,  he  would  long 
ago  have  been  strong  enough  to  pull  down  the 
sky  about  people's  ears.  But  these  great  lub- 
berly fellows  resemble  mountains,  not  only,  in 
bulk,  but  in  their  disinclination  to  move. 

Any  other  mortal  man,  except  the  very  one 
whom  Antseus  had  now  encountered,  would  have 
been  half  frightened  to  death  by  the  Giant's 
ferocious  aspect  and  terrible  voice.  But  the 
ir^tranger  did  not  seem  at  all  disturbed.  He  care- 
lessly lifted  his  club,  and  balanced  it  in  his  hand, 
measuring  Antaeus  with  his  eye,  from  head  to 
foot,  not  as  if  wonder-smitten  at  his  stature,  but 


THE    PYGMIES.  89 

as  if  he  had  seen  a  great  many  Giants  before, 
and  this  was  by  no  means  the  biggest  of  them. 
In  fact,  if  the  Giant  had  been  no  bigger  than 
the  Pygmies,  (who  stood  pricking  up  their  ears, 
and  looking  and  listening  to  what  was  going 
forward,)  the  stranger  could  not  have  been  less 
afraid  of  him. 

"  Who  are  you,  I  say?'^  roared  Antaeus  again. 
"  What's  your  name?  Why  do  you  come  hith- 
er? Speak,  you  vagabond,  or  I'll  try  the  thick- 
ness of  your  skull  with  my  walking  stick." 

"  You  are  a  very  discourteous  Giant,"  an- 
swered the  stranger,  quietly,  "  and  I  shall  proba- 
bly have  to  teach  you  a  little  civility,  before  we 
part.  As  for  my  name,  it  is  Hercules.  I  have 
come  hither  because  this  is  my  most  convenient 
road  to  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  whither  1 
am  going  to  get  three  of  the  golde*n  apples  for 
King  Eurystheus." 

"  Caitiff,  you  shall  go  no  farther ! "  bellowed 
Antaeus,  putting  on  a  grimmer  look  than  be- 
fore ;  for  he  had  heard  of  the  mighty  Hercules, 
and  hated  him  because  he  was  said  to  be  so 
strong.  "  Neither  shall  you  go  back  whence 
you  came !  " 


90  THE    PYGMIES. 

*'  How  will  you  prevent  me,"  asked  Hercules, 
"  from  going  whither  I  please  ?  " 

"  By  hitting  you  a  rap  with  this  pine  tree 
here,"  shouted  Antaeus,  scowling  so  that  he 
made  himself  the  ugliest  monster  in  Africa. 
"  I  am  fifty  times  stronger  than  you ;  and,  now 
that  I  stamp  my  foot  upon  the  ground,  I  am 
five  hundred  times  stronger  I  I  am  ashamed  to 
kill  such  a  puny  little  dwarf  as  you  seem  to  be. 
I  will  make  a  slave  of  you,  and  you  shall  like- 
wise be  the  slave  of  my  brethren,  here,  the 
Pygmies.  So  throw  down  your  club  and  your 
other  weapons  ;  and  as  for  that  lion's  skin,  I 
intend  to  have  a  pair  of  gloves  made  of  it." 

"  Come  and  take  it  off  my  shoulders,  then," 
answered   Hercules,  lifting  his  club. 

Then  the  Giant,  grinning  with  rage,  strode 
tower-like  towards  the  stranger,  (ten  times 
strengthened  at  every  step,)  and  fetched  a  mon- 
strous blow  at  him  with  his  pine  tree,  which 
Hercules  caught  upon  his  club  ;  and  being  more 
skilful  than  Antaeus,  he  paid  him  back  such  a 
rap  upon  the  sconce,  that  down  tumbled  the 
great  lumbering  man-mountain,  flat  upon  the 
ground.     The   poor  little   Pygmies   (who  really 


THE    PYGMIES.  91 

never  dreamed  that  any  body  in  the  world 
was  half  so  .strong  as  their  brother  Antaeus) 
were  a  good  deal  dismayed  at  this.  But  no 
sooner  was  the  Giant  down,  than  up  he  bounced 
again,  with  tenfold  might,  and  such  a  furious 
visage  as  was  horrible  to  behold.  He  aimed 
another  blow  at  Hercules,  but  struck  awry, 
being  blinded  with  wrath,  and  only  hit  his 
poor  innocent  Mother  Earth,  who  groaned  and 
trembled  at  the  stroke.  His  pine  tree  went  so 
deep  into  the  ground,  and  stuck  there  so  fast, 
that,  before  Antaeus  could  get  it  out,  Hercule&i 
brought  down  his  club  across  his  shoulders  with 
a  mighty  thwack,  which  made  the  Giant  roar 
as  if  all  sorts  of  intolerable  noises  had  come 
screeching  and  rumbling  out  of  his  immeas- 
urable lungs  in  that  one  cry.  Away  it  went, 
over  mountains  and  valleys,  and,  for  aught  1 
know,  was  heard  on  the  other  side  of  the 
African  deserts. 

As  for  the  Pygmiss,  their  capital  city  was 
laid  in  ruins  by  the  concussion  and  vibration  of 
the  air;  and,  though  there  was  uproar  enough 
without  their  help,  they  all  set  up  a  shriek  out 
of    three    millions   of    little    throats,    fancying, 


92  THE    PYGM'ES. 

no  doubt,  that  they  swelled  the  Giant's  bellow 
by  at  least  ten  times  as  much.  Meanwhile, 
Antaeus  had  scrambled  upon  his  feet  again, 
and  pulled  his  pine  tree  out  of  the  earth  ;  and, 
all  a-flame  with  fury,  and  more  outrageously 
strong  than  ever,  he  ran  at  Hercules,  and  brought 
down  another  blow. 

"  This  time,  rascal,"  shouted  he,  "  you  shall 
not  escape  me." 

But  once  more  Hercules  warded  off  the  stroke 
with  his  club,  and  the  Giant's  pine  tree  was 
shattered  into  a  thousand  splinters,  most  of 
which  flew  among  the  Pygmies,  and  did  them 
more  mischief  than  I  like  to  think  about. 
Before  Antaeus  could  get  out  of  the  way, 
Hercules  let  drive  again,  and  gave  him  another 
knock-down  blow,  which  sent  him  heels  over 
head,  but  served  only  to  increase  his  already 
enormous  and  insufferable  strength.  As  for  his 
rage,  there  is  no  telling  what  a  fiery  furnace  it 
had  now  got  to  be.  His  one  eye  v^as  nothing 
but  a  circle  of  red  flame.  Having  now  no 
weapons  but  his  fists,  he  doubled  them  up, 
(each  bigger  than  a  hogshead,)  smote  one 
against   the    other,   and    danced   up    and  down 


THE    PYGMIES. 


93 


with  absolute  frenzy,  flourishing  his  immense 
arms  about,  as  if  he  meant  not  merely  to  kill 
Hercules,  but  to  smash  the  whole  world  to 
pieces. 

"  Come  on  !  "  roared  this  thundering  Giant. 
"  Let  me  hit  you  but  one  box  on  the  ear,  and 
you'll  never  have  the  headache  again." 

Now  Hercules  (though  strong  enough,  as  you 
already  know,  to  hold  the  sky  up)  began  to  be 
sensible  that  he  should  never  win  the  victory, 
if  he  kept  on  knocking  Antaeus  down ;  for,  by 
and  by,  if  he  hit  him  such  hard  blows,  the  Giant 
would  inevitably,  by  the  help  of  his  Mother 
Earth,  become  stronger  than  the  mighty  Her- 
cules himself.  So,  throwing  down  his  club, 
with  which  he  had  fought  so  many  dreadful 
battles,  the  hero  stood  ready  to  receive  his 
antagonist  with  naked  arn>s. 

*'  Step  forward,"  cried  he.  "  Since  I've  bro- 
ken your  pine  tree,  we'll  try  which  is  the  bet- 
ter man  at  a  wrestling  match." 

"  Aha  I  then  I'll  soon  satisfy  you,"  shouted 
the  Giant ;  for,  if  there  was  one  thing  on  which 
he  prided  himself  more  than  another,  it  was 
his    skill     in    wrestling.       "  Villain,     I'll    fling 


94-  THE    PYGMIES. 

you  where  you  can  never  pick  yourself  up 
again." 

On  came  Antaeus,  hopping  and  capering  with 
the  scorching  heat  of  his  rage,  and  getting  new 
vigor  wherewith  to  wreak  his  passion,  every 
time  he  hopped.  But  Hercules,  you  must  un- 
derstand, was  wiser  than  this  numskull  of  a 
Giant,  and  had  thought  of  a  way  to  fight  him, 
—  huge,  earth-born  monster  that  he  was. —  and 
to  conquer  him  too,  in  spite  of  all  that  his 
Mother  Earth  could  do  for  him.  Watching  his 
opportunity,  as  the  mad  Giant  made  a  rush 
at  him,  Hercules  caught  him  round  the  middle 
with  both  hands,  lifted  him  high  into  i:he  air, 
and  held  him  aloft  overhead. 

Just  imagine  it,  my  dear  little  friends  I  What 
a  spectacle  it  must  have  been,  to  see  this  mon- 
strous fellow  sprawUng  in  the  air,  face  down- 
ward, kicking  out  his  long  legs  and  wriggling 
his  whole  vast  body,  like  a  baby  when  its  father 
holds  it  at  arm's  length  towards  the  ceiling. 

But  the  most  wonderful  thing  was,  that,  as 
soon  as  Antaeus  was  fairly  off  the  earth,  he 
began  to  lose  the  vigor  which  he  had  gained 
by  touching  it.     Hercules  very  soon    perceived 


THE    PYGMIES.  95 

that  his  troublesome  enemy  was  growing  weak- 
er, both  because  he  struggled  and  kicked  with 
less  violence,  and  because  the  thunder  of  his  big 
voice  subsided  into  a  grumble.  The  truth  was, 
that,  unless  the  Giant  touched  Mother  Earth  as 
often  as  once  in  five  minutes,  not  only  his  over- 
grown strength,  but  the  very  breath  of  his  life, 
would  depart  from  him.  Hercules  had  guessed 
this  secret ;  and  it  may  be  well  for  us  all  to 
remember  it,  in  case  we  shovild  ever  have  to 
fight  a  battle  with  a  fellow  like  Antseus.  For 
these  earth-born  creatures  are  only  difficult 
to  conquer  on  their  own  ground,  but  may 
easily  be  managed  if  we  can  contrive  to  lift 
them  into  a  loftier  and  purer  region.  So 
it  proved  with  the  poor  Giant,  whom  I  am 
really  a  little  sorry  for,  notwithstanding  his 
uncivil  way  of  treating  strangers,  who  came 
to   visit   him. 

When  his  sti*ength  and  breath  were  quite 
gone,  Hercules  gave  his  huge  body  a  toss,  and. 
flung  it  about  a  mile  off*,  where  it  fell  heavily, 
and  lay  with  no  more  motion  than  a  sand  hill. 
It  was  too  late  for  the  Giant's  Mother  Earth  to 
help  him  now ;  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  hia 


96  THE    PYGMIES. 

ponderous  bones  were  lying  on  the  same  spot 
to  this  very  day,  and  were  mistaken  for  those  of 
an  uncommonly  large  elephant. 

But,  alas  me  I  What  a  wailing  did  the  poor 
little  Pygmies  set  up  when  they  saw  their  enor- 
mous brother  treated  in  this  'terrible  manner ! 
If  Hercules  heard  their  shrieks,  however,  he  took 
no  notice,  and  perhaps  fancied  them  only  the 
shrill,  plaintive  twittering  of  small  birds  that 
had  been  frightened  from  their  nests  by  the 
uproar  of  the  battle  between  himself  and  An- 
taeus. Indeed,  his  thoughts  had  been  so  much 
taken  up  with  the  Giant,  that  he  had  never 
once  looked  at  the  Pygmies,  nor  even  knew  that 
there  was  such  a  funny  little  nation  in  the  world. 
And  now,  as  he  had  travelled  a  good  way,  and 
was  also  rather  weaxy  with  his  exertions  in  the 
fight,  he  spread  out  his  lion's  skin  on  the 
ground,  and  reclining  himself  upon  it,  felffast 
asleep. 

As  soon  as  the  Pygmies  saw  Hercules  pre- 
paring for  a  nap,  they  nodded  their  little  heads 
at  one  another,  and  winked  with  their  little  eyes. 
And  when  his  deep,  regular  breathing  gave 
them  notice  that  he  was  asleep,  they  assembled 


THE    PYGMIES.  97 

together  in  an  immense  crowd,  spreading  over 
a  space  of  about  twenty-seven  feet  square.  One 
of  their  most  eloquent  orators  (and  a  valiant 
warrior  enough,  besides,  though  hardly  so  good 
at  any  other  weapon  as  he  was  with  his  tongue) 
climbed  upon  a  toadstool,  and,  from  that  ele- 
vated position,  addressed  the  multitude.  His 
sentiments  were  pretty  much  as  follows;  or,  at 
all  events,  something  like  this  was  probably  the 
upshot  of  his  speech  :  — 

"Tall  Pygmies  and  mighty  little  men!  Yoii 
and  all  of  us  have  seen  what  a  public  calamity 
has  been  brought  to  pass,  and  what  an  insult  has 
here  been  offered  to  the  majesty  of  our  nation. 
Yonder  lies  Antasus,  our  great  friend  and  brother, 
slain,  within  our  territory,  by  a  miscreant  who 
took  him  at  disadvantage,  and  fought  him  (if 
fighting  it  can  be  called)  in  a  way  that  neither 
man,  nor  Giant,  nor  Pygmy  ever  dreamed  of 
fighting,  until  this  hour.  And,  adding  a  grievous 
contumely  to  the  wrong  already  done  us,  the 
miscreant  has  now  fallen  asleep  as  quietly  as 
if  nothing  were  to  be  dreaded  from  our  wrath ! 
It  behooves  you,  fellow-countrymen,  to  consider 
in  what  aspect  we  shall  stand  before  the  world, 
7 


98  THE    PYGMIES. 

and  what  will  be  the  verdict  of  impartial  history, 
should  we  suffer  these  accumulated  outrages  to 
go  unavenged. 

"  AntEEUs  was  our  brother,  born  of  that  same 
beloved  parent  to  whom  we  owe  the  thews 
and  sinews,  as  well  as  the  courageous  hearts, 
which  made  him  proud  of  our  relationship.  He 
was  our  faithful  ally,  and  fell  lighting  as  much 
for  our  national  rights  and  immunities  as  for  his 
own  personal  ones.  We  and  our  forefathers 
have  dwelt  in  friendship  with  him,  and  held 
affectionate  intercourse,  as  man  to  man,  through 
immemorial  generations.  You  remember  how 
often  our  entire  people  have  reposed  in  his  great 
shadow,  and  how  our  little  ones  have  played  at 
hide  and  seek  in  the  tangles  of  his  hair,  and  how 
his  mighty  footsteps  have  familiarly  gone  to  and 
fro  among  us,  and  never  trodden  upon  any  of 
our  toes.  And  there  lies  this  dear  brother  — 
this  sweet  and  amiable  friend  —  this  brave  anc 
faithful  ally — this  virtuous  Giant  —  this  blame 
less  and  excellent  Antaeus  —  dead  !  Dead  !  Si 
lent  I  Powerless !  A  mere  mountain  of  clay 
Forgive  my  tears !  Nay,  I  behold  your  own 
Were  we  to  drown  the  world  with  them  could 
the  world  blame  us  ? 


THE    PYGMIES.  99 

'  But  to  resume  :  Shall  we,  my  countrymen, 
suffer  this  wicked  stranger  to  depart  unharmed, 
and  triumph  in  his  treacherous  victory,  among 
distant  communities  of  the  earth  ?  Shall  we  not 
rather  compel  him  to  leave  his  bones  here  on  our 
soil,  by  the  side  of  our  slain  brother's  bones  ?  so 
that,  while  one  skeleton  shall  remain  as  the  ever- 
lasting monument  of  our  sorrow,  the  other  shall 
endure  as  long,  exhibiting  to  the  whole  human 
race  a  terrible  example  of  Pygmy  vengeance! 
Such  is  the  question/  I  put  it  to  you  in  full  con- 
fidence of  a  response  that  shall  be  worthy  of  our 
national  character,  and  calculated  to  increase, 
rather  than  diminish,  the  glory  which  our  ances- 
tors have  transmitted  to  us,  and  which  we  our- 
selves have  proudly  vindicated  in  our  warfare 
with  the  cranes." 

The  orator  was  here  interrupted  by  a  burst 
of  irrepressible  enthusiasm ;  every  individual 
Pygmy  crying  out  that  the  national  honor  must 
be  preserved  at  all  hazards.  He  bowed,  and 
making  a  gesture  for  silence,  wound  up  his  ha- 
rangue in  the  following  admirable  manner:  — 

"  It  only  remains  for  us,  then,  to  decide  wheth- 
er we    shall   carry  on  the  war  in   our   national 


100 


THE    PYGMIES. 


capacity,  —  one  united  people  against  a  common 
enemy,  —  or  whether  some  champion,  famous  in 
former  fights,  shall  be  selected  to  defy  the  slayer 
of  our  brother  Antaeus  to  single  combat.  In  the 
latter  case,  though  not  unconscious  that  there 
may  be  taller  men  among  you,  I  hereby  offer 
myself  for  that  enviable  duty.  And,  believe  me, 
dear  countrymen,  whether  I  live  or  die,  the 
honor  of  this  great  country,  and  the  fame  be- 
queathed us  by  our  heroic  progenitors,  shall  suffer 
no  diminution  in  my  hands.  Never,  while  I 
can  wield  this  sword,  of  which  I  now  fling 
away  the  scabbard  —  never,  never,  never,  even 
if  the  crimson  hand  that  slew  the  great  Antaeus 
shall  lay  me  prostrate,  like  him,  on  the  soil  which 
I  give  my  life  to  defend." 

So  saying,  this  valiant  Pygmy  drew  out  his 
weapon,  (which  was  terrible  to  behold,  being  as 
long  as  the  blade  of  a  penknife,)  and  sent  the 
scabbard  whirling  over  the  heads  of  the  multi- 
tude. His  speech  was  followed  by  an  uproar 
of  applause,  as  its  patriotism  and  self-devotion 
unquestionably  deserved ;  and  the  shouts  and 
clapping  of  hands  would  have  been  greatly  pro- 
longed, had  they  lot  been  rendered  quite  inaudi- 


THE    PYGMIES.  101 

ble  by  a  deep  respiration,  vulgarly  called  a  snore, 
from  the  sleeping  Hercules. 

It  was  finally  decided  that  the  whole  nation 
of  Pygmies  should  set  to  work  to  destroy  Her- 
cules ;  not,  be  it  understood,  from  any  doubt 
that  a  single  champion  would  be  capable  of 
putting  him  to  the  sword,  but  because  he  was  a 
public  enemy,  and  all  were  desirous  of  sharing 
in  the  glory  of  his  defeat.  There  was  a  debate 
w^hether  the  national  honor  did  not  demand 
that  a  herald  should  be  sent  with  a  trumpet,  to 
stand  over  the  ear  of  Hercules,  and,  after  blow- 
ing a  blast  right  into  it,  to  defy  him  to  the  com- 
bat by  formal  proclamation.  But  two  or  three 
venerable  and  sagacious  Pygmies,  well  versed  in 
state  affairs,  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  war 
already  existed,  and  that  it  was  their  rightful 
privilege  to  take  the  enemy  by  surprise.  More- 
over, if  awakened,  and  allowed  to  get  upon  his 
feet,  Hercules  might  happen  to  do  them  a  mis- 
chief before  he  could  be  beaten  down  again. 
For,  as  these  sage  counsellors  remarked,  the 
stranger's  club  was  really  very  big,  and  had  rat- 
tled like  a  thunderbolt  against  the  skull  of  An- 
taeus.    So  the  Pygmies  resolved  to  set  aside  all 


102  THE    PYGMIES. 

foolish  punctilios,  and  assail  their  antagonist  at 
once. 

Accordingly,  all  the  fighting  men  of  the  na- 
tion took  their  weapons,  and  went  boldly  up  to 
Hercules,  who  still  lay  fast  asleep,  little  dreaming 
of  the  harm  which  the  Pygmies  meant  to  do  him. 
A  body  of  twenty  thousand  archers  marched  in 
front,  with  their  little  bows  all  ready,  and  the 
arrows  on  the  string.  The  same  number  were 
ordered  to  clamber  upon  Hercules,  some  with 
spades,  to  dig  his  eyes  out,  and  others  with 
bundles  of  hay,  and  all  manner  of  rubbish,  with 
which  they  intended  to  plug  up  his  mouth  and 
nostrils,  so  that  he  might  perish  for  lack  of 
breath.  These  last,  however,  could  by  no  means 
perform  their  appointed  duty ;  inasmuch  as  the 
enemy's  breath  rushed  out  of  his  nose  in  an  ob- 
streperous hurricane  and  whirlwind,  which  blew 
the  Pygmies  away  as  fast  as  they  came  nigh. 
It  was  found  necessary,  therefore,  to  hit  upon 
some  other  method  of  carrying  on  the  war. 

After  holding  a  council,  the  captains  ordered 
their  troops  to  collect  sticks,  straws,  dry  weeds, 
and  whatever  combustible  stuff  they  could  find, 
and  make  a  pile  of  it,  heaping  it  high  around 


THE    PYGMIES.  108 

the  head  of  Hercules.  As  a  great  many  thou- 
sand Pygmies  were  employed  in  this  task,  they 
soon  brought  together  several  bushels  of  inflam- 
matory matter,  and  raised  so  tall  a  heap,  that, 
mounting  on  its  summit,  they  were  quite  upon 
a  level  with  the  sleeper's  face.  The  archers, 
meanwhile,  were  stationed  within  bow  shot,  with 
orders  to  let  fly  at  Hercules  the  instant  that  he 
^stirred.  Every  thing  being  in  readiness,  a  torch 
was  applied  to  the  pile,  which  immediately  burst 
into  flames,  and  soon  waxed  hot  enough  to  roast 
the  enemy,  had  he  but  chosen  to  lie  still.  A 
Pygmy,  you  know,  though  so  very  small,  might 
set  the  world  on  fire,  just  as  easily  as  a  Giant 
could ;  so  that  this  was  certainly  the  very  best 
way  of  dealing  with  their  foe,  provided  they 
could  have  kept  him  quiet  while  the  conflagra- 
tion was  going  forward. 

But  no  sooner  did  Hercules  begin  to  be 
scorched,  than  up  he  started,  with  his  hair  in  a 
red  blaze. 

"What's  all  this?"  he  cried,  bewildered  with 
sleep,  and  staring  about  him  as  if  he  expected 
to  see  another  Giant. 

At  that  moment  the  twenty  thousand  archers 


104  THE    PYGMIES. 

twanged  their  bowstrings,  and  the  arrows  came 
whizzing,  like  so  many  winged  mosquitoes,  right 
into  the  face  of  Hercules.  But  I  doubt  whether 
more  than  half  a  dozen  of  them  punctured  the 
skin,  which  was  remarkably  tough,  as  you  know 
the  skin  of  a  hero  has  good  need  to  be. 

"Villain  I"  shouted  all  the  Pygmies  at  once. 
"  You  have  killed  the  Giant  Antaeus,  our  great 
brother,  and  the  ally  of  our  nation.  We  declare 
bloody  war  against  you,  and  will  slay  you  on  the 
spot." 

Surprised  at  the  shrill  piping  of  so  many  little 
voices,  Hercules,  after  putting  out  the  conflagra- 
tion of  his  hair,  gazed  all  round  about,  but 
could  see  nothing.  At  last,  however,  looking 
narrowly  on  the  ground,  he  espied  the  innumer- 
able assemblage  of  Pygmies  at  his  feet.  He 
stooped  down,  and  taking  up  the  nearest  one  be- 
tween his  thumb  and  finger,  set  him  on  the  palm 
of  his  left  hand,  and  held  him  at  a  proper  dis- 
tance for  examination.  It  chanced  to  be  the 
very  identical  Pygmy  who  had  spoken  from 
the  top  of  the  toadstool,  and  had  offered  him- 
self as  a  champion  to  meet  Hercules  in  single 
combat. 


THE    PYGMIES.  105 

"  What  in  the  world,  my  little  fellow,"  ejacu- 
fated  Hercules,  "  may  you  be  ?" 

"  I  am  your  enemy,"  answered  the  valiant 
Pygmy,  in  his  mightiest  squeak.  "  You  have 
slain  the  enormous  Antagus,  our  brother  by  the 
mother's  side,  and  for  ages  the  faithful  ally  of 
our  illustrious  nation.  We  are  determined  to 
put  you  to  death ;  and  for  my  own  part,  I  chal- 
lenge you  to  instant  battle,  on  equal  ground." 

Hercules  was  so  tickled  with  the  Pygmy's  big 
words  and  warlike  gestures,  that  he  burst  into 
a  great  explosion  of  laughter,  and  almost  dropped 
the  poor  little  mite  of  a  creature  off  the  palm  of 
his  hand,  through  the  ecstasy  and  convulsion  of 
his  merriment. 

"  Upon  my  word,"  cried  he,  "  I  thought  I  had 
seen  wonders  before  to-day  —  hydras  with  nine 
heads,  stags  with  golden  horns,  six-legged  men, 
three-headed  dogs,  giants  with  furnaces  in  their 
stomachy,  and  nobody  knows  what  besides.  But 
here,  on  the  palm  of  my  hand,  stands  a  wonder 
that  outdoes  them  all !  Your  body,  my  little 
friend,  is  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  man's  fin- 
ger.    Pray,  how  big  may  your  soul  be  ?  " 

"  As  big  as  your  own ! "  said  the  Pygmy, 


106 


THE    PYGMIES 


Hercules  was  touched  with  the  little  man's 
dauntless  courage,  and  could  not  help  acknowl- 
edging such  a  brotherhood  with  him  as  one  hero 
feels  for  another. 

"  My  good  little  people,"  said  he,  making  a 
low  obeisance  to  the  grand  nation,  "  not  for  all 
the  world  would  I  do  an  intentional  injury  to 
such  brave  fellows  as  you  I  Your  hearts  seem 
to  me  so  exceedingly  great,  that,  upon  my  honor, 
I  marvel  how  your  small  bodies  can  contain 
them.  I  sue  for  peace,  and,  as  a  condition  of  it, 
will  take  five  strides,  and  be  out  of  your  king- 
dom at  the  sixth.  Good  by.  I  shall  pick  my 
steps  carefully,  for  fear  of  treading  upon  some  fif- 
ty of  you,  without  knowing  it.  Ha,  ha,  ha  I  Ho, 
ho,  hoi  For  once,  Hercules  acknowledges  him- 
self vanquished." 

Some  writers  say,  that  Hercules  gathered  up 
the  whole  race  of  Pygmies  in  his  lion's  skin,  and 
carried  them  home  to  Greece,  for  the  children  of 
King  Eurystheus  to  play  with.  But  this  is  a 
mistake.  He  left  them,  one  and  all,  within  their 
own  territory,  where,  for  aught  I  can  tell,  their 
descendants  are  alive  to  the  present  day,  build- 
ing  their    little    houses,   cultivating   their   little 


THE    PYGMIES.  107 

fields,  spanking  their  little  children,  waging  their 
little  warfare  with  the  cranes,  doing  their  little 
business,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  reading  their 
little  histories  of  ancient  times.  In  those  his- 
tories, perhaps,  it  stands  recorded,  that,  a  great 
many  centuries  ago,  the  valiant  Pygmies  avenged 
the  death  of  the  Giant  Antasus  by  scaring  away 
the  mighty  Hercules, 


JOS  THE    PRaGON's    teeth. 


THE    DEAGON'S    TEETH 


Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  the  three  sons  of 
King  Agenor,  and  their  little  sister  Europa,  (who 
was  a  very  beautiful  child,)  were  at  play  togeth- 
er, near  the  sea  shore,  in  their  father's  kingdom 
of  Phoenicia.  They  had  rambled  to  some  dis- 
tance from  the  palace  where  their  parents  dwelt, 
and  were  now  in  a  verdant  meadow,  on  one  side 
of  which  lay  the  sea,  all  sparkling  and  dimpling 
in  the  sunshine,  and  murmuring  gently  against 
the  beach.  The  three  boys  were  very  happy, 
gathering  flowers,  and  twining  them  into  gar- 
lands, with  which  they  adorned  the  little  Europa. 
Seated  on  the  grass,  the  child  was  almost  hid- 
den under  an  abundance  of  buds  and  blossoms, 
whence  her  rosy  face  peeped  merrily  out,  and,  as 
Cadmus  said,  was  the  prettiest  of  all  the  flowers. 

Just   then,   there   came    a    splendid   butterfly, 


THE    dragon's    teeth.  109 

fluttering  along  the  meadow;  and  Cadmus, 
Phoenix,  and  Cilix  set  off  in  pursuit  of  it,  crying 
out  that  it  was  a  flower  with  wings.  Europa^ 
who  was  a  little  wearied  with  playing  all  day 
long,  did  not  chase  the  butterfly  with  her  broth- 
ers, but  sat  still  where  they  had  left  her,  and 
dosed  her  eyes.  For  a  while,  she  listened  to 
the  pleasant  murmur  of  the  sea,  which  was  like 
a  voice  saying  "Hush!"  and  bidding  her  go  to 
sleep.  But  the  pretty  child,  if  she  slept  at  all, 
could  not  have  slept  more  than  a  moment,  when 
she  heard  something  trample  on  the  grass,  not 
far  from  her,  and  peeping  out  from  the  heap  of 
flowers,  beheld  a  snow-white  bull. 

And  whence  could  this  bull  have  come  ?  Eur 
ropa  and  her  brothers  had  been  a  long  time 
playing  in  the  meadow,  and  had  seen  no  cattle, 
nor  other  living  thing,  either  there  or  on  the 
neighboring  hills. 

"  Brother  Cadmus  !  "  cried  Europa,  starting  up 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  roses  and  lilies.  "  Phoe- 
nix !  Cilix  !  Where  are  you  all  ?  Help  !  Help ! 
Come  and  drive  away  this  bull  I" 

But  her  brothers  were  too  far  off*  to  hear; 
especially   as   the   fright    took    away   Europa's 


110  THE    dragon's    teeth. 

voice,  and  hindered  her  from  calling  very  loudly 
So  there  she  stood,  with  her  pretty  mouth  wide 
open,  as  pale  as  the  white  lilies  that  were  twisted 
among  the  other  flowers  in  her  garlands. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  the  suddenness  with 
which  she  had  perceived  the  bull,  rather  than 
any  thing  frightful  in  his  appearance,  that 
caused  Europa  so  much  alarm.  On  looking  at 
him  more  attentively,  she  began  to  see  that  he 
was  a  beautiful  animal,  and  even  fancied  a  par- 
ticularly amiable  expression  in  his  face.  As  for 
his  breath,  —  the  breath  of  cattle,  you  know,  is 
always  sweet,  —  it  was  as  fragrant  as  if  he  had 
been  grazing  on  no  other  food  than  rosebuds,  or, 
at  least,  the  most  delicate  of  clover  blossoms. 
Never  before  did  a  bull  have  such  bright  and 
tender  eyes,  and  such  smooth  horns  of  ivory,  as 
this  one.  And  the  bull  ran  little  races,  and 
capered  sportively  around  the  child  ;  so  that  she 
quite  forgot  how  big  and  strong  he  was,  and, 
from  the  gentleness  and  playfulness  of  his  ac- 
tions, soon  came  to  consider  him  as  innocent  a 
creature  as  a  pet  lamb. 

Thus,  frightened  as  she  at  first  was,  you 
might  by  and  by  have  seen  Europa  stroking  the 


Ill 


bull  s  forehead  with  her  small  white  hand,  and 
taking  the  garlands  off  her  own  head  to  hang 
them  on  his  neck  and  ivory  horns.  Then  she 
pulled  up  some  blades  .of  grass,  and  he  ate  them 
out  of  her  hand,  not  as  if  he  were  hungry,  but 
because  be  wanted  to  be  friends  with  the  child, 
and  took  pleasure  in  eating  what  she  had 
touched.  Well,  my  stars!  was  there  ever  such 
a  gentle,  sweet,  pretty,  and  amiable  creature  as 
this  bull,  and  ever  such  a  nice  playmate  for  a 
little   girl? 

When  the  animal  saw,  (for  the  bull  had  so 
much  intelligence  that  it  is  really  wonderful  to 
think  of,)  when  he  saw  that  Europa  was  no 
longer  afraid  of  him,  he  grew  overjoyed,  and 
could  hardly  contain  himself  for  delight.  He 
frisked  about  the  meadow,  now  here,  now  there, 
making  sprightly  leaps,  with  as  little  effort  as  a 
bird  expends  in  hopping  from  twig  to  twig.  In- 
deed, his  motion  was  as  light  as  if  he  were  flying 
through  the  air,  and  his  hoofs  seemed  hardly  to 
leave  their  print  in  the  grassy  soil  over  which  he 
trod.  With  his  spotless  hue,  he  resembled  a 
snow  drift,  wafted  along  by  the  wind.  Once  he 
galloped  so  far  away  that   Europa   feared  lest 


112  THE    dragon's    teeth. 

she  might  never  see  him  again  ;  so,  setting  up 
her  childish  voice,  she  called  him  l^ack. 

"  Come  back,  pretty  creatm-e ! "  she  cried. 
"  Here  is  a  nice  clover  blossom." 

And  then  it  was  delightful  to  witness  the 
gratitude  of  this  amiable  bull,  and  how  he  was 
so  full  of  joy  and  thankfulness  that  he  capered 
higher  than  ever.  He  came  running,  and  bowed 
his  head  before  Europa,  as  if  he  knew  her  to  be 
a  king's  daughter,  or  else  recognized  the  impor- 
tant truth  that  a  little  girl  is  every  body's  queen. 
And  not  only  did  the  bull  bend  his  neck,  he 
absolutely  knelt  down  at  her  feet,  and  made 
such  intelligent  nods,  and  other  inviting  gestures, 
that  Europa  understood  what  he  meant  just  as 
well  as  if  he  had  put  it  in  so  many  words. 

"  Come,  dear  child,"  was  what  he  wanted  to 
say,  "  let  me  give  you  a  ride  on  my  back." 

At  the  first  thought  of  such  a  thing,  Europa 
drew  back.  But  then  she  considered  in  her 
wise  little  head  that  there  could  be  no  possi- 
ble harm  in  taking  just  one  gallop  on  the  back 
of  this  docile  and  friendly  animal,  who  would 
certainly  set  her  down  the  very  instant  she  de- 
sired it.     And  how  it  would  surprise  her  brothers 


THE    dragon's    teeth.  113 

to  see  her  riding  across  the  green  meadow ! 
And  what  merry  times  they  might  have,  either 
taking  turns  for  a  gallop,  or  clambering  on  the 
gentle  creature,  all  four  children  together,  and 
careering  round  the  field  with  shouts  of  laughter 
that  would  be  heard  as  far  off  as  King  Agcnor's 
palace  ! 

"  I  think  I  will  do  it,"  said  the  child  to  herself. 

And,  indeed,  why  not?  She  cast  a  glance 
around,  and  caught  a  glimpse  of  Cadmus,  Phoenix, 
and  Cilix,  who  were  still  in  pursuit  of  the  but- 
terfly, almost  at  the  other  end  of  the  meadow. 
It  would  be  the  quickest  way  of  rejoining  them, 
to  get  upon  the  white  bull's  back.  She  came  a 
step  nearer  to  him  therefore ;  and  —  sociable 
creature  that  he  was  —  he  showed  so  much  joy 
at  this  mark  of  her  confidence,  that  the  child 
could  not  find  in  her  heart  to  hesitate  any  longer. 
Making  one  bound,  (for  this  little  princess  was 
as  active  as  a  squirrel,)  there  sat  Europa  on  the 
beautiful  bull,  holding  an  ivory  horn  in  each 
hand,  lest  she  should  fall  off. 

"  Softly,  pretty  bull,  softly  I "  she  said,  rather 
frightened  at  what  she  had  done.  "  Do  ilot  gal- 
lop too  fast." 

.     8 


114  THK    DRAGONS    TEETH. 

Having  got  the  child  on  his  back,  the  animal 
gave  a  leap  into  the  air,  and  came  down  so  like 
a  feather  that  Em*opa  did  not  know  when  his 
hoofs  touched  the  ground.  He  then  began  a 
race  to  that  part  of  the  flowery  plain  where  her 
three  brothers  were,  and  where  they  had  just 
caught  their  splendid  butterfly.  Europa  screamed 
with  delight;  and  Phoenix,  Cilix,  and  Cadmus 
stood  gaping  at  the  spectacle  of  their  sister 
mounted  on  a  w^hite  bull,  not  knowing  whether 
to  be  frightened  or  to  wish  the  same  good  luck 
for  themselves.  The  gentle  and  innocent  crea- 
ture (for  who  could  possibly  doubt  that  he  was 
so  ?)  pranced  round  among  the  children  as  spor- 
tively as  a  kitten.  Europa  all  the  while  looked 
down  upon  her  brothers,  nodding  and  laughing, 
but  yet  with  a  sort  of  stateliness  in  her  rosy  little 
face.  As  the  bull  wheeled  about  to  take  another 
gallop  across  the  meadow,  the  child  waved  her 
hand,  and  said,  "  Good  by,"  playfully  pretend- 
ing that  she  was  now  bound  on  a  distant  jour- 
ney, and  might  not  see  her  brothers  again  for 
nobody  could  tell  how  long. 

"  Good    by,"  shouted  Cadmus,  Phoenix,    and 
Cilix,  all  in  one  breath. 


Europa  and  the  Bull.  P  H*- 


115 


But,  together  with  her  enjoyment  of  the  sport, 
there  was  still  a  little  remnant  of  fear  in  the 
child's  heart;  so  that  her  last  look  at  the  three 
boys  was  a  troubled  one,  and  made  them  feel  as 
if  their  dear  sister  were  really  leaving  them  for- 
ever. And  what  do  you  think  the  *snowy  bull 
did  next  ?  Why,  he  set  off,  as  swift  as  the  wind, 
straight  down  to  the  sea  shore,  scampered  across 
the  sand,  took  an  airy  leap,  and  plunged  right 
in  among  the  foaming  billows.  The  white  spray 
rose  in  a  shower  over  him  and  little  Europa,  and 
fell  spattering  down  upon  the  water. 

Then  w^hat  a  scream  of  terror  did  the  poor  child 
send  forth  !  The  three  brothers  screamed  man- 
fully, likewise,  and  ran  to  the  shore  as  fast  as 
their  legs  would  carry  them,  with  Cadmus  at 
their  head.  But  it  was  too  late.  When  they 
reached  the  margin  of  the  sand,  the  treacherous 
animal  was  already  far  away  in  the  wide  blue 
sea,  with  only  his  snowy  head  and  tail  emerging, 
and  poor  little  Europa  between  them,  stretching 
out  one  hand  towards  her  dear  brothers,  while 
she  grasped  the  bull's  ivory  horn  with  the  other. 
And  there  stood  Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix, 
gazing  at  this  sad  spectacle,  through  their  tears, 


116  THE    dragon's    teeth. 

until  they  could  no  longer  distinguish  the  bill's 
snowy  head  from  the  white-capped  billows  that 
seenned  to  boil  up  out  of  the  sea's  depths  around 
him.  Nothing  more  was  ever  seen  of  the  white 
bull  —  nothing  more  of  the  beautiful  child. 

This  was^  a  mournful  story,  as  you  may  well 
think,  for  the  three  boys  to  carry  home  to  their 
parents.  King  Agenor,  their  father,  was  the 
ruler  of  the  whole  country ;  but  he  loved  his 
little  daughter  Europa  better  than  his  kingdom, 
or  than  all  his  other  children,  or  than  any  thing 
else  in  the  world.  Therefore,  when  Cadmus  and 
his  two  brothers  came  crying  home,  and  told  him 
how  that  a  wiiite  bull  had  carried  off  their  sister, 
and  swam  with  her  over  the  sea,  the  king  was 
quite  beside  himself  with  grief  and  rage.  Al- 
though it  was  now  twilight,  and  fast  growing 
dark,  he  bade  them  set  out  instantly  in  search 
of  her. 

"  Never  shall  you  see  my  face  again,"  he  cried, 
*'  unless  you  bring  me  back  my  little  Europa,  to 
gladden  me  with  her  smiles  and  her  ]:retty  ways. 
Begone,  and  enter  my  presence  no  more,  till  you 
come  leading  her  by  the  hand." 

As  King  Agenor  said  this,  his  eyes  flashed  lire, 


THE    dragon's    teeth.  117 

(for  he  was  a  very  passionate  king,)  and  he  looked 
so  terribly  angry  that  the  poor  boys  did  not  even 
venture  to  ask  for  their  suppers,  but  slunk  away 
out  of  the  palace,  and  only  paused  on  the  steps 
a  moment  to  consult  whither  they  should  go  first. 
While  they  were  standing  there,  all  in  dismay, 
their  mother,  Queen  Telephassa,  (who  happened 
not  to  be  by  when  they  told  the  story  to  the 
king,)  came  hurrying  after  them,  and  said  that 
she  too  would  go  in  quest  of  her  daughter. 

"  O,  no,  mother  I  "  cried  the  boys.  "  The  night 
is  dark,  and  there  is  no  knowing  what  troubles 
and  perils  we  may  meet  with." 

"  Alas !  my  dear  children,"  answered  poor 
Queen  Telephassa,  weeping  bitterly,  "that  is 
only  another  reason  why  I  should  go  with  you. 
If  I  should  lose  you,  too,  as  well  as  my  little 
Europa,  what  would  become  of  me  !  " 

"  And  let  me  go  likewise ! "  said  their  playfel- 
low Thasus,  who  came  running  to  join  them. 

Thasus  was  the  son  of  a  seafaring  person  in 
the  neighborhood ;  he  had  been  brought  up  with 
the  young  princes,  and  was  their  intimate  friend, 
and  loved  Europa  very  much ;  so  they  consented 
that  he  should   accompany  them.      The  whole 


118 


party,  therefore,  set  forth  together.  Cadmus, 
Phoenix,  Cilix,  and  Thasus  clustered  round 
Queen  Telephassa,  grasping  her  skirts,  and  beg- 
ging her  to  lean  upon  their  shoulders,  whenever 
she  felt  weary.  In  this  manner  they  went  down 
the  palace  steps,  and  began  a  journey,  which 
turned  out  to  be  a  great  deal  longer  than  they 
dreamed  of.  The  last  that  they  saw  of  King 
Agenor,  he  came  to  the  door,  with  a  servant 
holding  a  torch  beside  him,  and  called  after  them 
into  the  gathering  darkness  :  — 

"  Remember  I  Never  ascend  these  steps  again 
without  the  child  ! " 

"  Never ! "  sobbed  Queen  Telephassa  ;  and  the 
three  brothers  and  Thasus  answered,  "  Never ! 
Never !  Never !  Never !  " 

And  they  kept  their  word.  Year  after  year, 
King  Agenor  sat  in  the  solitude  of  his  beautiful 
palace,  listening  in  vain  for  their  returning  foot- 
steps, hoping  to  hear  the  familiar  voice  of  the 
queen,  and  the  cheerful  talk  of  his  sons  and  their 
playfellow  Thasus,  entering  the  door  together, 
and  the  sweet,  childish  accents  of  little  Europa 
in  the  midst  of  them.  But  so  long  a  time  went 
by,  that,  at  last,  if  they  had  really  come,  the  kin^ 


THE    dragon's    teeth.  119 

would  not  have  known  that  this  was  the  voice, 
of  Telephassa,  and  these  the  younger  voices  that 
used  to  make  such  joyful  echoes,  when  the  chil- 
dren were  playing  about  the  palace.  We  must 
now  leave  King  Agenor  to  sit  on  his  throne,  and 
must  go  along  with  Queen  Telephassa  and  her 
four  youthful  companions. 

They  went  on  and  on,  and  travelled  a  long 
way,  and  passed  over  mountains  and  rivers,  and 
sailed  over  seas.  Here,  and  there,  and  every 
where,  they  made  continual  inquiry  if  any  person 
could  tell  them  what  had  become  of  Europa. 
The  rustic  people,  of  whom  they  asked  this  ques- 
tion, paused  a  little  while  from  their  labors  in 
the -field,  and  looked  very  much  surprised.  They 
thought  it  strange  to  behold  a  woman  in  the  garb 
of  a  queen,  (for  Telephassa,  in  her  haste,  had 
forgotten  to  take  off  her  crown  and  her  royal 
robes,)  roaming  about  the  country,  with  four  lads 
around  her,  on  such  an  errand  as  this  seemed  to 
be.  But  nobody  could  give  them  any  tidings  of 
Europa ;  nobody  had  seen  a  little  girl  dressed 
like  a  princess,  and  mounted  on  a  snow-white 
bull,  which  galloped  as  swiftly  as  the  wind. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  long  Queen  Telephassa, 


120 


and  Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  her  three  sons, 
and  Thasus,  their  playfellow,  went  wandering 
along  the  highways  and  bypaths,  or  through  the 
pathless  wildernesses  of  the  earth,  in  this  manner. 
But  certain  it  is,  that,  before  they  reached  any 
place  of  rest,  their  splendid  garments  were  quite 
worn  out.  They  all  looked  very  much  travel- 
stained,  and  would  have  had  the  dust  of  many 
countries  on  their  shoes,  if  the  streams,  through 
which  they  waded,  had  not  washed  it  all  away. 
When  they  had  been  gone  a  year,  Telephassa 
threw  away  her  crown,  because  it  chafed  her 
forehead. 

"  It  has  given  me  many  a  headache,"  said  the 
poor  queen,  "  and  it  cannot  cure  my  heartache." 

As  fast  as  their  princely  robes  got  torn  and 
tattered,  they  exchanged  them  for  such  mean 
attire  as  ordinary  people  wore.  By  and  by,  they 
came  to  have  a  wild  and  homeless  aspect ;  so 
that  you  would  much  sooner  have  taken  them 
for  a  gypsy  family  than  a  queen  and  three 
princes,  and  a  young  nobleman,  who  had  once  a 
palace  for  their  home,  and  a  train  of  servants  to 
do  their  bidding.  The  four  boys  grew  up  to  be 
tall   young   men,  with    sunburnt   faces.      Each 


THE    dragon's    teeth.  121 

of  them  girded  on  a  sword,  to  defend  them- 
selves against  the  perils  of  the  way.  When  the 
husbandmen,  at  whose  farm  houses  they  sought 
hospitality,  needed  their  assistance  in  the  harvest 
field,  they  gave  it  willingly  ;  and  Queen  Tele- 
phassa  (who  had  done  no  w^ork  in  her  palace, 
save  to  braid  silk  threads  with  golden  ones) 
came  behind  them  to  bind  the  sheaves.  If  pay- 
ment w^as  offered,  they  shook  their  heads,  and 
only  asked  for  tidings  of  Europa. 

''  There  are  bulls  enough  in  my  pasture,"  the 
old  farmers  would  reply  ;  "  but  I  never  heard  of 
one  like  this  you  tell  me  of.  A  snow-white  bull 
with  a  little  princess  on  his  back  I  Ho  !  ho  I  I 
ask  your  pardon,  good  folks ;  but  there  never 
was  such  a  sight  seeir  hereabouts." 

At  last,  when  his  upper  lip  began  to  have  the 
down  on  it.  Phoenix  grew  weary  of  rambling 
hither  and  thither  to  no  purpose.  So,  one  day, 
when  they  happened  to  be  passing  through  a 
pleasant  and  solitary  tract  of  country,  he  sat 
himself  down  on  a  heap  of  moss. 

"  I  can  go  no  farther,"  said  Phoenix.  "  It  is  a 
more  foolish  waste  of  life,  to  spend  it,  as  we  do, 
in  always  wandering  up  and  down,  and  never 


122  THE  dragon's  tekth. 

coming  to  any  home  at  nightfall.  Our  sister  is 
lost,  and  never  will  be  found.  She  probably 
perished  in  the  sea ;  or,  to  whatever  shore  the 
white  bull  may  have  carried  her,  it  is  now  so 
many  years  ago,  that  there  would  be  neither 
love  nor  acquaintance  between  us,  should  we 
meet  again.  My  father  has  forbidden  us  to  re- 
turn to  his  palace;  so  I  shall  build  me  a  hut 
of  branches,  and  dwell  here." 

"  Well,  son  Phoenix,"  said  Telephassa,  sorrow- 
fully, "  you  have  grown  to  be  a  man,  and  must 
do  as  you  judge  best.  But,  for  my  part,  I  will 
still  go  in  quest  of  my  poor  child." 

"  And  we  three  will  go  along  with  you  I "  cried 
Cadmus  and  Cilix,  and  their  faithful  fricfid 
Thasus. 

But,  before  setting  out,  they  all  helped  Phoe- 
nix to  build  a  habitation.  When  completed,  it 
was  a  sweet  rural  bower,  roofed  overhead  with 
an  arch  of  living  boughs.  Inside  there  were 
two  pleasant  rooms,  one  of  which  had  a  soft 
heap  of  moss  for  a  bed,  while  the  other  was 
furnished  with  a  rustic  seat  or  two,  curiously 
fashioned  out  of  the  crooked  roots  of  trees.  So 
corpfortable    and     home-like    did    it    seem,    that 


TflE    DRAGON  S    TEETH.  123 

Telephassa  and  her  three  companions  could  not 
help  sighing,  to  think  that  they  must  still  mam 
about  the  world,  instead  of  spending  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives  in  some  such  cheerful  abode  as 
they  had  here  built  for  Phoenix.  But,  when 
they  bade  him  farewell.  Phoenix  shed  tears,  and 
probably  regretted  that  he  was  no  longer  to  keep 
them  company. 

However,  he  had  fixed  upon  an  admirable 
place  to  dwell  in.  And  by  and  by  there  came 
other  people,  who  chanced  to  have  no  homes  : 
and,  seeing  how  pleasant  a  spot  it  was,  they 
built  themselves  huts  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Phoenix's  habitation.  Thus,  before  many  years 
went  by,  a  city  had  grown  up  there,  in  the  cen- 
tre of  which  was  seen  a  stately  palace  of  marble, 
wherein  dwelt  Phoenix,  clothed  in  a  purple  robe, 
and  wearing  a  golden  crown  upon  his  head. 
For  the  inhabitants  of  the  new  city,  finding  that 
he  had  royal  blood  in  his  veins,  had  chosen  him 
to  be  their  king.  The  very  first  decree  of  state 
which  King  Phoenix  issued  was,  that,  if  a 
maiden  happened  to  arrive  in  the  kingdom, 
mounted  on  a  snow-white  bull,  and  calling  her- 
self Europa.  his  subjects  should   treat  her  with 


124  THE  dragon's  tleth. 

the  greatest  kindness  and  respect,  and  infime- 
diately  bring  her  to  the  palace.  You  may  see, 
by  this,  that  Phoenix's  conscience  never  quite 
ceased  to  trouble  him,  for  giving  up  the  quest  of 
his  dear  sister,  and  sitting  himself  down  to  be 
comfortable,  while  his  mother  and  her  compan- 
ions went  onward. 

But  often  and  often,  at  the  close  of  a  weary 
day's  journey,  did  Telephassa  and  Cadmus,  Ci- 
lix  and  Thasus,  remember  the  pleasant  spot  in 
which  they  had  left  Phoenix.  It  was  a  sorrow- 
ful prospect  for  these  wanderers,  that  on  the 
morrow  they  must  again  set  forth,  and  that, 
after  many  nightfalls,  they  would  perhaps  be  no 
nearer  the  close  of  their  toilsome  pilgrimage  than 
now.  These  thoughts  made  them  all  melan- 
choly at  times,  but  appeared  to  torment  Cilix 
more  than  the  rest  of  the  party.  At  length, 
one  morning,  when  they  were  taking  their 
staffs  in  hand  to  set  out,  he  thus  addressed 
them :  — 

"  My  dear  mother,  and  you  good  brother  Cad- 
mus, and  my  friend  Thasus,  methinks  we  are 
like  people  in  a  dream.  There  is  no  substance 
in  the  life  which  we  are  leading.     It  is  such  a 


THE    DRAGON  S    TEETH.  125 

dreary  length  of  time  since  the  white  bull  carried 
oft"  my  sister  Eiiropa,  that  I  have  quite  forgotten 
how  she  looked,  and  the  tones  of  her  voice,  and, 
indeed,  almost  doubt  whether  such  a  little  girl 
ever  lived  in  the  world.  And  whether  she  once 
lived  or  no,  I  am  convinced  that  she  no  longer 
survives,  and  that  therefore  it  is  the  merest  folly 
to  waste  our  own  lives  and  happiness  in  seeking 
her.  Were  we  to  find  her,  she  would  now  be  a 
woman  grown,  and  would  look  upon  us  all  as 
strangers.  So,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  have  re- 
solved to  take  up  my  abode  here ;  and  I  entreat 
you,  mother,  brother,  and  friend,  to  follow  my 
example." 

"  Not  I,  for  one,"  said  Telephassa ;  although 
the  poor  queen,  firmly  as  she  spoke,  was  so 
travel- worn  that  she  could  hardly  put  her  foot  to 
the  ground.  "  Not  I  for  one !  In  the  depths  of 
my  heart,  little  Europa  is  still  the  rosy  child 
who  ran  to  gather  flowers  so  many  years  ago. 
She  has  not  grown  to  womanhood,  nor  forgotten 
me.  At  noon,  at  night,  journeying  onward, 
sitting  down  to  rest,  her  childish  voice  is  always 
in  my  ears,  calling  'Mother!  mother  I '  Stop 
here  who  may,  there  is  no  repose  for  rne." 


126  THE  dragon's  teeth. 

"  Nor  for  me,"  said  Cadmus,  "  while  my  deaf 
mother  pleases  to  go  onward." 

And  the  faithful  Thasus,  too,  was  resolved  to 
bear  them  company.  They  remained  with  Cilix 
a  few  days,  however,  and  helped  him  to  build  a 
rustic  bower,  resembling  the  one  which  they  had 
formerly  built  for  Phoenix. 

When  they  were  bidding  him  farewell,  Cilix 
burst  into  tears,  and  told  his  mother  that  it 
seemed  just  as  melancholy  a  dream  to  stay  there, 
in  solitude,  as  to  go  onward.  If  she  really  be- 
lieved that  they  would  ever  find  Europa,  he  was 
willing  to  continue  the  search  with  them,  even 
now.  But  Telephassa  bade  him  remain  there,  and 
be  happy,  if  his  own  heart  would  let  him.  So  the 
pilgrims  took  their  leave  of  him,  and  departed, 
and  were  hardly  out  of  sight  before  some  other 
wandering  people  came  along  that  way,  and  saw 
Cilix's  habitation,  and  were  greatly  delighted 
with  the  appearance  of  the  place.  There  being 
abundance  of  unoccupied  ground  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, these  strangers  built  huts  for  themselves, 
and  were  soon  joined  by  a  multitude  of  new  set- 
tlers, who  quickly  formed  a  city.  In  the  middle 
of  it  was  seen  a  magnificent  palace  of  colored 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  127 

marble,  on  the  balcony  of  which,  every  noontide, 
appeared  Cilix,  in  a  long  purple  robe,  and  with 
a  jewelled  crow^n  upon  his  head  ;  for  the  inhabit- 
ants, when  they  found  out  that  he  was  a  king's 
son,  had  considered  him  the  fittest  of  all  men  to 
be  a  king  himself. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  King  Cilix's  govern- 
ment w^as  to  send  out  an  expedition,  consisting 
of  a  grave  ambassador  and  an  escort  of  bold  and 
hardy  young  men,  with  orders  to  visit  the  prin- 
cipal kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  inquire  whether 
a  young  maiden  had  passed  through  those  re- 
gions, galloping  swiftly  on  a  white  bull.  It  is, 
therefore,  plain  to  my  mind,  that  Cilix  secretly 
blamed  himself  for  giving  up  the  search  for  Eu- 
ropa,  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  put  one  foot 
before  the  other. 

As  for  Telephassa,  and  Cadmus,  and  the  good 
Thasus,  it  grieves  me  to  think  of  them,  still  keep- 
ing up  that  weary  pilgrimage.  The  two  young 
men  did  their  best  for  the  poor  queen,  helping 
her  over  the  rough  places,  often  carrying  her 
across  rivulets  in  their  faithful  arms,  and  seeking 
to  shelter  her  at  nightfall,  even  wdien  they  them- 
selves lay  on  the  ground.     Sad,  sad  it  was  to 


128 


liear  them  asking  of  every  passer  by  if  he  had 
seen  Enropa,  so  long  after  the  white  bull  had 
carried  her  away.  But,  though  the  gray  years 
thrust  themselves  between,  and  made  the  child's 
figure  dim  in  their  remembrance,  neither  of  these 
true-hearted  three  ever  dreamed  of  giving  up  the 
search. 

One  morning,  however,  poor  Thasus  found 
that  he  had  sprained  his  ankle,  and  could  not 
possibly  go  a  step  farther. 

"  After  a  few  days,  to  be  sure,"  said  he,  mourn- 
fully, "I  might  make  shift  to  hobble  along  with 
a  stick.  But  that  w^ould  only  delay  you,  and 
perhaps  hinder  you  from  finding  dear  little  Eu- 
ropa,  after  all  your  pains  and  trouble.  Do  you 
go  forward,  therefore,  my  beloved  (;ompanions, 
and  leave  me  to  follow  as  I  may." 

"  Thou  hast  been  a  true  friend,  dear  Thasus," 
said  Queen  Telephassa,  kissing  his  forehead. 
♦'  Being  neither  my  son,  nor  the  brother  of  our 
lost  Europa,  thou  hast  shown  thyself  truer  to  me 
and  her  than  Phoenix  and  Cilix  did,  w^hom  we 
have  left  behind  us.  Without  thy  loving  help, 
and  that  of  my  son  Cadmus,  my  limbs  could 
not  have  borne   me  half  so  far  as  this.     Now, 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  129 

take  thy  rest,  and  be  at  peace.  For  —  and  it  is 
the  first  time  I  have  owned  it  to  myself-—  I  begin 
to  question  whether  we  shall  ever  find  my  be- 
loved daughter  in  this  world." 

Saying  this,  the  poor  queen  shed  tears,  because 
it  was  a  grievous  trial  to  the  mother's  heart  to 
confess  that  her  hopes  were  growing  faint.  From 
that  day  forward,  Cadmus  noticed  that  she  never 
travelled  with  the  same  alacrity  of  spirit  that  had 
heretofore  supported  her.  Her  weight  was  heav- 
ier upon  his  arm. 

Before  setting  out,  Cadmus  helped  Thasus 
build  a  bower ;  while  Telephassa,  being  too  in- 
firm to  give  any  great  assistance,  advised  them 
how  to  fit  it  up  and  furnish  it,  so  that  it  might 
be  as  comfortable  as  a  hut  of  branches  could. 
Thasus,  however,  did  not  spend  all  his  days  in 
this  green  bower.  For  it  happened  to  him,  as  to 
Phoenix  and  Cilix,  that  other  homeless  people 
visited  the  spot,  and  liked  it,  and  built  them- 
selves habitations  in  the  neighborhood.  So  here, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  was  another  thriv- 
ing city,  with  a  red  freestone  palace  in  the  centre 
of  it,  where  Thasus  sat  upon  a  throne,  doing 
justice  to  the  people,  with  a  purple  robe  over  his 
9 


130  THE    dragon's    TEKTH. 

■^  shoulders,  a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  a  crown 
upon  his  head.  The  inhabitants  had  made  him 
king,  not  for  the  sake  of  any  royal  blood,  (for 
none  was  in  his  veins,)  but  because  Thasus  was 
an  upright,  true-hearted,  and  courageous  man, 
and  therefore  fit  to  rule. 

But,  when  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  were  all 
settled.  King  Thasus  laid  aside  his  purple  robe, 
and  crown,  and  sceptre,  and  bade  his  worthiest 
subject  distribute  justice  to  the  people  in  his 
stead.  Then,  grasping  the  pilgrim's  staff  that 
had  supported  him  so  long,  he  set  forth  again, 
hoping  still  to  discover  some  hoof  mark  of  the 
snow-white  bull,  some  trace  of  the  vanished 
child.  He  returned,  after  a  lengthened  absence, 
and  sat  down  wearily  upon  his  throne.  To  his 
latest  hour,  nevertheless.  King  Thasus  showed 
his  true-hearted  remembrance  of  Europa,  by  or- 
dering that  a  fire  should  always  be  kept  burning 
in  his  palace,  and  a  bath  steaming  hot,  and  food 
ready  to  be  served  up,  and  a  bed  with  snow- 
white  sheets,  in  case  the  maiden  should  arrive, 
ana  require  immediate  refreshment.  And  though 
Europa  never  came,  the  good  Thasus  had  the 
blessings  of  many  a  poor  traveller,  who  profited 


THE    dragon's    TKETH.  131 

by  the  food  and  lodging  which  were  meant  for    b 
the  little  playmate  of  the  king'y  boyhood. 

Telephassa  and  Cadmus  were  now  pursuing 
their  weary  way,  with  no  companion  but  each 
other.  The  queen  leaned  heavily  upon  her  son's 
arm,  and  could  walk  only  a  few  miles  a  day. 
But  for  all  her  weakness  and  weariness,  she 
would  not  be  persuaded  to  give  up  the  search. 
It  was  enough  to  bring  tears  into  the  eyes  of 
bearded  men  to  hear  the  melancholy  tone  with 
which  she  inquired  of  every  stranger  whether  he 
could  tell  her  any  news  of  the  lost  child. 

"  Have  you  seen  a  little  girl  —  no,  no,  I  mean 
a  young  maiden  of  full  growth  —  passing  by  this 
way,  mounted  on  a  snow-white  bull,  which  gal- 
lops as  swiftly  as  the  wind  ?  " 

"  We  have  seen  no  such  wondrous  sight,"  the 
people  would  reply;  and  very  often,  taking  Cad- 
mus aside,  they  whispered  to  him,  "  Is  this 
stately  and  sad-looking  woman  your  mother? 
Surely  she  is  not  in  her  right  mind;  and  you 
ought  to  take  her  home,  and  make  her  comfort- 
able, and  do  your  best  to  get  this  dream  out  of 
her  fancy." 

"  It  is  no  dream,"  said  Cadmus.  "  Every 
thing  else  is  a  dream,  save  that." 


132  THE  dragon's  teeth. 

But,  one  day,  Telephassa  seemed  feebler  than 
usual,  and  leaned  almost  her  whole  weight  on 
the  arm  of  Cadmus,  and  walked  more  slowly 
than  ever  before.  At  last  they  reached  a  soli- 
tary spot,  where  she  told  her  son  that  she  must 
needs  lie  down,  and  take  a  good,  long  rest. 

"A  good,  long  rest!"  she  repeated,  looking 
Cadmus  tenderly  in  the  face.  "  A  good,  long 
rest,  thou  dearest  one ! " 

"  As  long  as  you  please,  dear  mother,"  an- 
swered  Cadmus. 

Telephassa  bade  him  sit  down  on  the  turf 
beside  her,  and  then  she  took  his   hand. 

"  My  son,"  said  she,  fixing  her  dim  eyes 
most  lovingly  upon  him,  "  this  rest  that  I  speak 
of  will  be  very  long  indeed !  You  must  not 
wait  till  it  is  finished.  Dear  Cadmus,  you  do 
not  comprehend  me.  You  must  make  a  grave 
here,  and  lay  your  mother's  weary  frame  into  it. 
My  pilgrimage  is  over." 

Cadmus  burst  into  tears,  and,  for  a  long  time, 
refused  to  believe  that  his  dear  mother  was  now 
to  be  taken  from  him.  But  Telephassa  reasoned 
with  him,  and  kissed  him,  and  at  length  made 
him  discern  that  it  was  better  for  her  spirit  to 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  133 

pass  away  out  of  the  toil,  the  weariness,  the 
grief,  and  disappointment  which  had  burdened 
her  on  earth,  ever  since  the  child  was  lost.  He 
therefore  repressed  his  sorrow,  and  listened  to 
her  last  words. 

"  Dearest  Cadmus,"  said  she,  "  thou  hast  been 
the  truest  son  that  ever  mother  had,  and  faithful 
to  the  very  last.  Who  else  would  have  borne 
with  my  infirmities  as  thou  hast !  It  is  owing 
to  thy  care,  thou  tenderest  child,  that  my  grave 
was  not  dug  long  years  ago,  in  some  valley  or 
on  some  hillside,  that  lies  far,  far  behind  us.  It 
is  enough.  Thou  shalt  wander  no  more  on  this 
hopeless  search.  But,  when  thou  hast  laid  thy 
mother  in  the  earth,  then  go,  my  son,  to  Delphi, 
and  inquire  of  the  oracle  what  thou  shalt  do 
next." 

"  O  mother,  mother,"  cried  Cadmus,  "  couldst 
thou  but  have  seen  my  sister  before  this  hour!" 

"  It  matters  little  now,"  answered  Telephassa, 
and  there  was  a  smile  upon  her  face.  "  I  go 
now  to  the  better  world,  and,  sooner  or  later,  shall 
find  my  daughter  there." 

I  will  not  sadden  you,  my  little  hearers,  with 
telling  how  Telephassa  died  and  was  buried,  but 


134  THE  dragon's  teeth. 

will  only  say,  that  her  dying  smile  grew  brighter, 
instead  of  vanishing  from  her  dead  face  ;  so  that 
Cadmus  felt  convinced  that,  at  her  very  first 
step  into  the  better  world,  she  had  caught  Eu- 
ropa  in  her  arms.  He  planted  some  flowers  on 
his  mother's  gi*ave,  and  left  tliem  to  grow  there, 
and  make  the  place  beautiful,  when  he  should 
be  far   away. 

After  performing  this  last  sorrowful  duty,  he 
set  forth  alone,  and  took  the  road  towards  the 
famous  oracle  of  Delphi,  as  Telephassa  had  ad- 
vised him.  On  his  way  thither,  he  still  inquired 
of  most  people  whom  he  met  whether  they  had 
seen  Europa;  for,  to  ?'^y  the  truth,  Cadmus  had 
grown  so  accustomed  to  ask  the  question,  that  it 
came  to  his  lips  as  readily  as  a  remark  about  the 
weather.  He  received  various  answers.  Some 
told  him  one  thing,  and  some  another.  Among 
the  rest,  a  mariner  affirmed,  that,  many  years 
before,  in  a  distant  country,  he  had  heard  a  ru- 
mor about  a  white  bull,  which  came  swimming 
across  the  sea  with  a  child  on  his  back,  dressed 
up  in  flowers  that  were  blighted  by  the  sea 
water.  He  did  not  know  what  had  become  of 
the  child   or  the   bull  ;  and  Cadmus   suspected, 


135 


indeed,  by  a  queer  twinkle  in  the  mariner's  eyes, 
that  he  was  putting  a  joke  upon  him,  and  had 
never  really  heard  any  thing  about  the  matter. 

Poor  Cadmus  found  it  more  wearisome  to 
travel  alone  than  to  bear  all  his  dear  mother's 
weight,  while  she  had  kept  him  company.  His 
heart,  you  will  understand,  was  now  so  heavy  that 
it  seemed  impossible,  sometimes,  to  carry  it  any 
farther.  But  his  limbs  were  strong  and  active, 
and  well  accustomed  to  exercise.  He  walked 
swiftly  along,  thinking  of  King  Agenor  and 
Queen  Telephassa,  and  his  brothers,  and  the 
friendly  Thasus,  all  of  whom  he  had  left  behind 
him,  at  one  point  of  his  pilgrimage  or  another, 
and  never  expected  to  see  them  any  more.  Full 
of  these  remembrances,  he  came  within  sight  of 
a  lofty  mountain,  which  the  people  thereabouts 
told  him  was  called  Parnassus.  On  the  slope 
of  Mount  Parnassus  was  the  famous  Delphi, 
whither  Cadmus  was  going. 

This  Delphi  was  supposed  to  be  the  very  mid- 
most spot  of  the  whole  world.  The  place  of  the 
oracle  was  a  certain  cavity  in  the  mountain  side, 
over  which,  when  Cadmus  came  thither,  he  found 
a  rude  bower  of  branches.     It  reminded  him  of 


136 


THE    DRAGON  S    TEETH. 


those  which  he  had  helped  to  build  for  Phoenix 
and  Cilix,  and  afterwards  for  Thasus.  In  later 
times,  when  multitudes  of  people  came  from  great 
distances  to  put  questions  to  the  oracle,  a  spacious 
temple  of  marble  was  erected  over  the  spot. 
But  in  the  days  of  Cadmus,  as  I  have  told  you, 
there  was  only  this  rustic  bower,  with  its  abun- 
dance of  green  foliage,  and  a  tuft  of  shrubbery, 
that  ran  wild  over  the  mysterious  hole  in  the 
hillside.  '  « 

When  Cadmus  had  thrust  a  passage  through 
the  tangled  boughs,  and  made  his  way  into  the 
bower,  he  did  not  at  first  discern  the  half-hidden 
cavity.  But  soon  he  felt  a  cold  stream  of  air 
rushing  out  of  it,  with  so  much  force  that  it 
shook  the  ringlets  on  his  cheek.  Pulling  away 
the  shrubbery  which  clustered  over  the  hole,  he 
bent  forward,  and  spoke  in  a  distinct  but  rev- 
erential tone,  as  if  addressing  some  unseen  per- 
sonage inside  of  the  mountain. 

"  Sacred  oracle  of  Delphi,"  said  he,  "  whither 
shall  I  go  next  in  quest  of  my  dear  sister  Eu- 
ropa?" 

There  was  at  first  a  deep  silence,  and  then  a 
rushing    sound,    or    a    noise  like    a    long   sigh. 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  137 

proceeding  out  of  the  interior  of  the  earth.  This 
cavity,  you  must  know,  was  looked  upon  as  a 
sort  of  fountain  of  truth,  which  sometimes 
gushed  out  in  audible  words;  although,  for  the 
most  part,  these  words  were  such  a  riddle  that 
they  might  just  as  well  have  staid  at  the  bottom 
of  the  hole.  But  Cadmus  was  more  fortunate 
than  many  others  who  went  to  Delphi  in  search 
of  truth.  By  and  by,  the  rushing  noise  began 
to  sound  like  articulate  language.  It  repeated, 
over  and  over  again,  the  following  sentence, 
which,  after  all,  was  so  like  the  vague  whistle  of 
a  blast  of  air,  that  Cadmus  really  did  not  quite 
know  whether  it  meant  any  thing  or  not:  — 

"  Seek  her  no  more !  Seek  her  no  more  I  Seek 
her  no  more  I " 

"  What,  then,  shall  I  do  ?"  asked  Cadmus. 

For,  ever  since  he  was  a  child,  you  know,  it 
had  been  the  great  object  of  his  life  to  find  his 
sister.  From  the  very  hour  that  he  left  follow- 
ing the  butterfly  in  the  meadow,  near  his  father's 
palace,  he  had  done  his  best  to  follow  Europa, 
over  land  and  sea.  And  now,  if  he  must  give 
up  the  search,  he  seemed  to  have  no  more  busi- 
ness in  the  world. 


138  THE    DPAGOn's    teeth. 

But  again  the  sighing  gust  of  air  grew  into 
something  like  a  hoarse  voice. 

"Follow  the  cowl"  it  said.  "  Follow  the 
cow!     Follow  the  cowl" 

And  when  these  words  had  been  repeated 
until  Cadmus  was  tired  of  hearing  them,  (es- 
pecially as  he  could  not  imagine  what  cow  it 
was,  or  why  he  was  to  follow  her.)  the  gusty  hole 
gave  vent  to  another  sentence. 

"  Where  the  stray  cow  lies  down,  {here  is  your 
home." 

These  words  were  pronounced  but  a  single 
time,  and  died  away  into  a  whisper  before  Cad- 
mus was  fully  satisfied  that  he  had  caught  the 
meaning.  He  put  other  questions,  but  received 
no  answer;  only  the  gust  of  wind  sighed  con- 
tinually out  of  the  cavity,  and  blew  the  withered 
leaves  rustling  along  the  ground  before  it. 

"  Did  there  really  come  any  words  out  of  the 
hole?"  thought  Cadmus;  "or  have  I  been 
dreaming  all  this  while  ?  " 

He  turned  away  from  the  oracle,  and  thought 
himself  no  wiser  than  when  he  came  thither. 
Caring  little  what  might  happen  to  him,  he  took 
the  first  path  that  offered  itself,  and  went  along 


139 


at  a  sluggish  pace ;  for,  having  no  object  in  view, 
nor  any  reason  to  go  one  way  more  than  an- 
other, it  would  certainly  have  been  foolish  to 
make  haste.  Whenever  he  met  any  body,  the 
old  question  was  at  his  tongue's  end :  — 

"  Have  you  seen  a  beautiful  maiden,  dressed 
like  a  king's  daughter,  and  mounted  on  a  snow- 
white  bull,  that  gallops  as  swiftly  as  the  wind?" 

But,  remembering  what  the  oracle  had  said, 
he  only  half  uttered  the  words,  and  then  mum- 
bled the  rest  indistinctly;  and  from  his  confu- 
sion, people  must  have  imagined  that  this  hand- 
some young  man  had  lost  his  wits. 

I  know  not  how  far  Cadmus  had  gone,  nor 
could  he  himself  have  told  you,  when,  at  no 
great  distance  before  him,  he  beheld  a  brindled 
cow.  She  was  lying  down  by  the  wayside,  and 
quietly  chewing  her  cud ;  nor  did  she  take  any 
notice  of  the  young  man  until  he  had  approached 
pretty  nigh.  Then,  getting  leisurely  upon  her 
feet,  and  giving  her  head  a  gentle  toss,  she  began 
to  move  along  at  a  moderate  pace,  often  paus- 
ing just  long  enough  to  crop  a  mouthful  of  grass. 
Cadmus  loitered  behind,  whistling  idly  to  him- 
self, and   scarcely  noticing   the    cow;  until   the 


140 


thought  occurred  to  him,  whether  this  could  pos 
sibly  be  the  animal  which,  according  to  the  ora- 
cle's response,  was  to  serve  him  for  a  guide.  But 
he  smiled  at  himself  for  fancying  such  a  thing. 
He  could  not  seriously  think  that  this  was  the 
cow,  because  she  went  along  so  quietly,  behaving 
just  like  any  other  cow.  Evidently  she  neither 
knew  nor  cared  so  much  as  a  wisp  of  hay  about 
Cadmus,  and  was  only  thinking  how  to  get  her 
living  along  the  wayside,  where  the  herbage  was 
green  and  fresh.  Perhaps  she  was  going  home 
to  be  milked. 

"Cow,  cow,  cow!"  cried  Cadmus.  "Hey, 
Brindle,  hey  !      Stop,  my  good  cow." 

He  wanted  to  come  up  with  the  cow,  so  as 
to  examine  her,  and  see  if  she  would  appear  to 
know  him,  or  whether  there  were  any  peculiar- 
ities to  distinguish  her  from  a  thousand  other 
cows,  whose  only  business  is  to  fill  the  milk  pail, 
and  sometimes  kick  it  over.  But  still  the  brin- 
dled cow  trudged  on,  whisking  her  tail  to  keep 
the  flies  away,  and  taking  as  little  notice  of  Cad- 
mus as  she  well  could.  If  he  walked  slowly,  so 
did  the  cow,  and  seized  the  opportunity  to  graze. 
Tf  he  (juiclvoncd   his  pace,  the  cow  went  just  so 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  141 

much  the  faster ;  and  once,  when  Cadmus  tried 
to  catch  her  by  running,  she  threw  out  her  heels, 
stuck  her  tail  straight  on  end,  and  set  off  at  a 
gallop,  looking  as  queerly  as  cows  generally  do, 
while  putting  themselves  to  their  speed. 

When  Cadmus  saw  that*it  was  impossible  to 
come  up  with  her,  he  walked  on  moderately,  as 
before.  The  cow,  too,  went  leisurely  on,  without 
looking  behind.  Wherever  the  grass  was  green- 
est, there  she  nibbled  a  mouthful  or  two.  Where 
a  brook  glistened  brightly  across  the  path,  there 
the  cow  drank,  and  breathed  a  comfortable  sigh, 
and  drank  again,  and  trudged  onward  at  the 
pace  that  best  suited  herself  and   Cadmus. 

"I  do  believe,"  thought  Cadmus,  "that  this 
may  be  the  cow  that  was  foretold  me.  If  it  be 
the  one,  I  suppose  she  will  lie  down  somewhere 
hereabouts." 

Whether  it  were  the  oracular  cow  or  some 
other  one,  it  did  not  seem  reasonable  that  she 
should  travel  a  great  way  farther.  So,  whenever 
they  reached  a  particularly  pleasant  spot  on  a 
breezy  hillside,  or  in  a  sheltered  vale,  or  flowery 
meadow,  on  the  shore  of  a  calm  lake,  or  along 
the   bank    of    a    clear    stream,    Cadmus   looked 


142 


eagerly  around  to  see  if  the  situation  would  suit 
hinri  for  a  home.  But  still,  whether  he  liked  the 
place  or  no,  the  brindled  cow  never  offered  to  lie 
down.  On  she  went  at  the  quiet  pace  of  a  cow 
going  homeward  to  the  barn  yard ;  and,  every 
moment,  Cadmus  expected  to  see  a  milkmaid  ap- 
proaching with  a  pail,  or  a  herdsman  running  to 
head  the  stray  animal,  and  turn  her  back  towards 
the  pasture.  But  no  milkmaid  came  ;  no  herds- 
man drove  her  back  ;  and  Cadmus  followed  the 
stray  Brindle  till  he  was  almost  ready  to  drop 
down  with  fatigue. 

"  O,  brindled  cow,"  cried  he,  in  a  tone  of  de- 
spair, "do  you  never  mean  to  stop?" 

He  had  now  grown  too  intent  on  following 
her  to  think  of  lagging  behind,  however  long 
the  way,  and  whatever  might  be  his  fatigue. 
Indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  there  were  something 
about  the  animal  that  bewitched  people.  Several 
persons  who  happened  to  see  the  brindled  cow, 
and  Cadmus  following  behind,  began  to  trudge 
after  her,  precisely  as  he  did.  Cadmus  was  glad 
of  somebody  to  converse  with,  and  therefore 
talked  very  freely  to  these  good  people.  He  told 
them  all   his    adventures,  and    how  he    had  left 


.43 


King  Agenor  in  his  palace,  and  Phoenix  at  one 
place,  and  Cilix  at  another,  and  Thasus  at  a 
third,  and  his  dear  mother.  Queen  Telephassa, 
under  a  flowery  sod ;  so  that  now  he  was  quitf 
alone,  both  friendless  and  homeless.  He  men- 
tioned, likewise,  that  the  oracle  had  bidden  him 
be  guided  by  a  cow,  and  inquired  of  the  stran- 
gers whether  they  supposed  that  this  brindled 
animal  could  be  the  one. 

"  Why,  'tis  a  very  wonderful  affair,"  answered 
one  of  his  new  companions.  "  I  am  pretty  well 
acquainted  with  the  ways  of  cattle,  and  I  never 
knew  a  cow,  of  her  own  accord,  to  go  so  far  with- 
out stopping.  If  my  legs  will  let  me,  I'll  never 
leave  following  the  beast  till  she  lies  down." 

"  Nor  II"  said  a  second. 

"  Nor  I !  "  cried  a  third.  "  If  she  goes  a  hun- 
dred miles  farther,  I'm  determined  to  see  the  end 
of  it." 

The  secret  of  it  was,  you  must  know,  that  the 
cow  was  an  enchanted  cow,  and  that,  without 
their  being  conscious  of  it,  she  threw  some  of  her 
enchantment  over  every  body  that  took  so  much 
as  half  a  dozen  steps  behind  her.  They  could 
not  possibly  help  following  her,  though,  all  the 


144  THE  dragon's  teeth.     ' 

time,  they  fancied  themselves  doing  it  of  theii 
own  accord.  The  cow  was  by  no  means  very 
nice  in  choosing  her  path  ;  so  that  sometimes 
they  had  to  scramble  over  rocks,  or  wade  through 
mud  and  mire,  and  were  all  in  a  terribly  bedrag- 
gled condition,  and  tired  to  death,  and  very 
hungry,  into  the  bargain.  What  a  weary  busi- 
ness it  was! 

But  still  they  kept  trudging  stoutly  forward, 
and  talking  as  they  went.  The  strangers  grew 
very  fond  of  Cadmus,  and  resolved  never  to  leave 
him,  but  to  help  him  build  a  city  wherever  the 
cow  might  lie  down.  In  the  centre  of  it  there 
should  be  a  noble  palace,  in  which  Cadmus 
might  dwell,  and  be  their  king,  with  a  throne,  a 
crown,  and  sceptre,  a  purple  robe,  and  every 
thing  else  that  a  king  ought  to  have  ;  for  in  him 
there  was  the  royal  blood,  and  the  royal  heart, 
and  the  head  that  knew  how  to  rule. 

While  they  were  talking  of  these  schemes, 
and  beguiling  the  tediousness  of  the  way  with 
laying  out  the  plan  of  the  new  city,  one  of  the 
company  happened  to  look  at  the  cow. 

"Joy!  joy !"  cried  he,  clapping  his  hands. 
"  Brindle  is  going  to  lie  down." 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  145 

They  all  looked  ;  and,  sure  enough,  the  cow 
had  stopped,  and  was  staring  leisurely  about 
her,  as  other  cows  do  when  on  the  point  of  lying 
down.  And  slowly,  slowly  did  she  recline  her- 
self on  the  soft  grass,  first  bending  her  fore  legs, 
and  then  crouching  her  hind  ones.  When  Cad- 
mus and  his  companions  came  up  with  her, 
there  was  the  brindled  cow  taking  her  ease, 
chewing  her  cad,  and  looking  them  quietly  in 
the  face  ;  as  if  this  was  just  the  spot  she  had 
been  seeking  for,  and  as  if  it  were  all  a  matter 
of  course. 

"  This,  then,"  said  Cadmus,  gazing  around 
him,  "  this  is  to  be  my  home." 

It  was  a  fertile  and  lovely  plain,  with  great 
trees  flinging  their  sun-speckled  shadows  over  it, 
and  hills  fencing  it  in  from  the  rough  weather. 
At  no  great  distance,  they  beheld  a  river  gleam- 
ing in  the  sunshine.  A  home  feeling  stole  into 
the  heart  of  poor  Cadmus.  He  was  very  glad 
to  know  that  here  he  might  awake  in  the  morn- 
ing, without  the  necessity  of  putting  on  his 
dusty  sandals  to  travel  farther  and  farther.  The 
days  and  the  years  would  pass  over  him,  and 
find  him  still  in  this  pleasant  spot.  If  he  could 
10 


146 


have  had  his  brothers  with  him,  and  hi«  friend 
Thasus,  and  could  have  seen  his  dear  mother 
under  a  roof  of  his  own,  he  might  here  have 
been  happy,  after  all  their  disappointments. 
Some  day  or  other,  too,  his  sister  Europa  might 
have  come  quietly  to  the  door  of  his  home,  and 
smiled  round  upon  the  familiar  faces.  But,  in- 
deed, since  there  was  no  hope  of  regaining  the 
friends  of  his  boyhood,  or  ever  seeing  his  dear 
sister  again,  Cadmus  resolved  to  make  himself 
happy  with  these  new  companions,  who  had 
grown  so  fond  of  him  while  following  the  cow. 

"  Yes,  my  friends,"  said  he  to  them,  "  this  is 
to  be  our  home.  Here  we  will  build  our  habita- 
tions. The  brindled  cow,  which  has  led  us 
hither,  will  supply  us  with  milk.  We  will  culti- 
vate the  neighboring  soil,  and  lead  an  innocent 
and  happy  life." 

His  companions  joyfully  assented  to  this  plan ; 
and,  in  the  first  place,  being  very  hungry  and 
thirsty,  they  looked  about  them  for  the  means  of 
providing  a  comfortable  meal.  Not  far  off,  they 
saw  a  tuft  of  trees,  which  appeared  as  if  there 
might  be  a  spring  of  water  beneath  them.  They 
went   thither   to    fetch    some,    leaving    Cadmusi 


THE    dragon's    teeth.  147 

stretched  on  the  ground  along  with  the  brindled 
cow ;  for,  now  that  he  had  found  a  place  of  rest, 
it  seemed  as  if  all  the  weariness  of  his  pilgrim- 
age, ever  since  he  left  King  Agenor's  palace,  had 
fallen  upon  him  at  once.  But  his  new  friends 
had  not  long  been  gone,  when  he  was  suddenly 
startled  by  cries,  shouts,  and  screams,  and  the 
noise  of  a  terrible  struggle,  and  in  the  midst  of 
it  all,  a  most  awful  hissing,  which  went  right 
through  his  ears  like  a  rough  saw. 

Running  towards  the  tuft  of  trees,  he  beheld 
the  head  and  fiery  eyes  of  an  immense  serpent  or 
dragon,  with  the  widest  jaws  that  ever  a  dragon 
had,  and  a  vast  many  rows  of  horribly  sharp 
teeth.  Before  Cadmus  could  reach  the  spot,  this 
pitiless  reptile  had  killed  his  poor  companions, 
and  was  busily  devouring  themj  making  but  a 
mouthful  of  each  man. 

It  appears  that  the  fountain  of  water  was  en- 
chanted, and  that  the  dragon  had  been  set  to 
guard  it,  so  that  no  mortal  might  ever  quench 
his  thirst  there.  As  the  neighboring  inhabitants 
carefully  avoided  the  spot,  it  was  now  a  long 
time  (not  less  than  a  hundred  years,  or  there- 
abouts)  since  the  monster  had  broken  his  fast ; 


148  THE  dragon's  teeth. 

and,  as  was  natural  enough,  his  appetite  had 
grown  to  be  enormous,  and  was  not  half  satisfied 
by  the  poor  people  whom  he  had  just  eaten  up. 
When  he  caught  sight  of  Cadmus,  therefore,  he 
ser  up  another  abominable  hiss,  and  flung  back 
his  immense  jaws,  until  his  mouth  looked  like 
a  great  red  cavern,  at  the  farther  end  of  which 
were  seen  the  legs  of  his  last  victim,  whom  he 
had  hardly  had  time  to  swallow. 

But  Cadmus  was  so  enraged  at  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  friends,  that  he  cared  neither  for  the 
size  of  the  dragon's  jaws  nor  for  his  hundreds 
of  sharp  teeth.  Drawing  his  sword,  he  rushed 
at  the  monster,  and  flung  himself  right  into  his 
cavernous  mouth.  This  bold  method  of  attack- 
ing him  took  the  dragon  by  surprise  ;  for,  in  fact, 
Cadmus  had  leaped  so  fai  down  into  liis  throat, 
that  the  rows  of  terrible  teeth  could  not  close 
upon  him,  nor  do  him  the  least  harm  in  the 
world.  Thus,  though  the  struggle  was  a  tre- 
mendous one,  and  though  the  dragon  shattered 
the  tuft  of  trees  into  small  splinters  by  the  lash- 
ing of  his  tail,  yet,  as  Cadmus  was  all  the  while 
slashing  and  stabbing  at  his  very  vitals,  it  waa 
not    long   before    the    scaly  wretch     bethought 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  149 

himself  of  slipping  away.  He  had  not  gone  his 
length,  however,  when  the  brave  Cadmus  gave 
him  a  sword  thrust  that  finished  the  battle;  and, 
creeping  out  of  the  gateway  of  the  creature's 
jaws,  there  he  beheld  him  still  wriggling  his  vast 
bulk,  although  there  was  no  longer  life  enough 
in  him  to  harm  a  little  child. 

But  do  not  you  suppose  that  it  made  Cadmus 
sorrowful  to  think  of  the  melancholy  fate  which 
had  befallen  those  poor,  friendly  people,  who  had 
followed  the  cow  along  with  him  ?  It  seemed 
as  if  he  were  doomed  to  lose  every  body  whom 
he  loved,  or  to  see  them  perish  in  one  way  or 
another.  And  here  he  was,  after  all  his  toils  and 
troubles,  in  a  solitary  place,  with  not  a  single 
human  being  to  help  him  build  a  hut. 

"  What  shall  I  do?"  cried  he  aloud.  "  It  were 
better  for  me  to  have  been  devoured  by  the 
dragon,  as  my  poor  companions  were." 

"  Cadmus,"  said  a  voice  —  but  whether  it 
came  from  above  or  below  him,  or  whether  it 
spoke  within  his  own  breast,  the  young  man 
could  not  tell  — "  Cadmus,  pluck  out  the  drag- 
en's  teeth,  and  plant  them  in  the  earth." 

This  was  a  strange  thing  to  do ;    nor  was  it 


150  THE    dragon's    teeth. 

very  easy,  I  should  imagine,  to  dig  out  all  those 
deep-rooted  fangs  from  the  dead  dragon's  jaws. 
But  Cadmus  toiled  and  tugged,  and  after  pound- 
ing the  monstrous  head  almost  to  pieces  with  a 
great  stone,  he  at  last  collected  as  many  teeth  as 
might  have  filled  a  bushel  or  two.  The  next 
thing  was  to  plant  them.  This,  likewise,  was  a 
tedious  piece  of  work,  especially  as  Cadmus  was 
already  exhausted  with  killing  the  dragon  and 
knocking  his  head  to  pieces,  and  had  nothing  to 
dig  the  earth  with,  that  I  know  of,  unless  it  were 
his  sword  blade.  Finally,  however,  a  sufficiently 
large  tract  of  gi'ound  was  turned  up,  and  sown 
with  this  new  kind  of  seed  ;  although  half  of  the 
dragon's  teeth  still  remained  to  be  planted  some 
other  day. 

Cadmus,  quite  out  of  breath,  stood  leaning 
upon  his  sword,  and  wondering  what  was  to 
happen  next.  He  had  waited  but  a  few  mo- 
ments, when  he  began  to  see  a  sight,  which  was 
as  great  a  marvel  as  the  most  marvellous  thing 
I  ever  told  you  about. 

The  sun  was  shining  slantwise  over  the  field, 
and  showed  all  the  moist,  dark  soil,  just  like  any 
other   newly-planted   ])iece    of    ground.     All   at 


151 


once,  Cadmus  fancied  he  saw  something  glisten 
very  brightly,  first  at  one  spot,  then  at  another, 
and  then  at  a  hundred  and  a  thousand  spots 
together.  Soon  he  perceived  them  to  be  the 
steel  heads  of  spears,  sprouting  up  every  where 
like  so  many  stalks  of  grain,  and  continually 
growing  taller  and  taller.  Next  appeared  a  vast 
number  of  bright  sword  blades,  thrusting  them- 
selves up  in  the  same  way.  A  moment  after- 
wards, the  whole  surface  of  the  ground  was 
broken  by  a  multitude  of  polished  brass  hel- 
mets, coming  up  like  a  crop  of  enormous  beans. 
So  rapidly  did  they  grow,  that  Cadmus  now  dis- 
cerned the  fierce  countenance  of  a  man  beneath 
every  one.  In  short,  before  he  had  time  to  think 
what  a  wonderful  affair  it  was,  he  beheld  an 
abundant  harvest  of  what  looked  like  human 
beings,  armed  w^ith  helmets  and  breastplates, 
shields,  swords,  and  spears  ;  and  before  they 
were  well  out  of  the  earth,  they  brandished  their 
weapons,  and  clashed  them  one  against  another, 
seeming  to  think,  little  while  as  they  had  yet 
lived,  that  they  had  wasted  too  much  of  life 
without  a  battle.  Every  tooth  of  the  dragon  had 
produced  one  of  these  sons  of  deadly  mischief. 


152  THE  dragon's  teeth. 

Up  sprouted,  also,  a  great  many  trumpeters ; 
and  with  the  first  breath  that  they  drew,  they 
put  their  brazen  trumpets  to  their  lips,  and 
sounded  a  tremendous  and  ear-shattering  blast ; 
so  that  the  whole  space,  just  now  so  quiet  and 
solitary,  reverberated  with  the  clash  and  clang 
of  arms,  the  bray  of  w^arlike  music,  and  the 
shouts  of  angi'y  men.  So  enraged  did  they  all 
look,  that  Cadmus  fully  expected  them  to  put 
the  whole  world  to  the  sword.  How  fortunate 
would  it  be  for  a  great  conqueror,  if  he  could  get 
a  bushel  of  the  dragon's  teeth  to  sow! 

"  Cadmus,-'  said  the  same  voice  which  he  had 
before  heard,  "  throw  a  stone  into  the  midst  of 
the  armed  men." 

So  Cadmus  seized  a  large  stone,  and,  flinging 
it  into  the  middle  of  the  earth  army,  saw  it  strike 
the  breastplate  of  a  gigantic  and  fierce-looking 
warrior.  Immediately  on  feeling  the  blow,  he 
seemed  to  take  it  for  granted  that  somebody 
had  struck  him  ;  and,  uplifting  his  weapon,  he 
smote  his  next  neighbor  a  blow  that  cleft  his 
helmet  asunder,  and  stretched  him  on  the  ground. 
In  an  instant,  those  nearest  the  fallen  warrior 
began  to  strike  at  one  another  with  their  swoids^ 


153 


and  stab  with  their  spears.  The  confusion 
spread  wider  and  wider.  Each  man  smote 
down  his  brother,  and  was  himself  smitten  down 
before  he  had  time  to  exult  in  his  victory.  The 
trumpeters,  all  the  while,  blew  their  blasts  shriller 
and  shriller ;  each  soldier  shouted  a  battle  cry, 
and  often  fell  with  it  on  his  lips.  It  was  the 
strangest  spectacle  of  causeless  wrath,  and  of 
mischief  for  no  good  end,  that  had  ever  been 
witnessed ;  but,  after  all,  it  was  neither  more 
foolish  nor  more  wicked  than  a  thousand  battles 
that  have  since  been  fought,  in  which  men  have 
slain  their  brothers  with  just  as  little  reason  as 
these  children  of  the  dragon's  teeth.  It  ought  to 
be  considered,  too,  that  the  dragon  people  w^ere 
made  for  nothing  else ;  whereas  other  mortals 
were  born  to  love  and  help  one  another. 

Well,  this  memorable  battle  continued  to 
rage  until  the  ground  was  strewn  with  helmeted 
heads  that  had  been  cut  off.  Of  all  the  thou- 
sands that  began  the  fight,  there  w^ere  only  five 
left  standing.  These  now  rushed  from  different 
parts  of  the  field,  and,  meeting  in  the  middle 
of  it,  clashed  their  swords,  and  struck  at  each 
other's  hearts  as  fiercely  as  ever. 


154 


"  Cadmus,"  said  the  voice  again,  ••  bid  those 
five  warriors  sheathe  their  swords.  They  will 
help  you  to  build  the  city." 

Without  hesitating  an  instant,  Cadmus  stepped 
forward,  with  the  aspect  of  a  king  and  a  leader, 
and  extending  his  drawn  sword  amongst  them, 
spoke  to  the  warriors  in  a  stern  and  command- 
ing voice. 

"  Sheathe  your  weapons  I"'  said  he. 

And  forthwith,  feeling  themselves  bound  to 
obey  him,  the  five  remaining  sons  of  the  drag- 
on's teeth  made  him  a  military  salute  with  their 
swords,  returned  them  to  the  scabbards,  and 
stood  before  Cadmus  in  a  rank,  eying  him  as 
soldiers  eye  their  captain,  while  awaiting  the 
word  of  command. 

These  five  men  had  probably  sprung  from  the 
biggest  of  the  dragon's  teeth,  and  were  the  bold- 
est and  strongest  of  the  whole  army.  They  were 
almost  giants  indeed,  and  had  good  need  to  be 
so,  else  they  never  could  have  lived  through  so 
terrible  a  fight.  They  still  had  a  very  furious 
look,  and,  if  Cadmus  happened  to  glance  aside, 
would  glare  at  one  another,  with  fire  flashing 
out  of  their  eyes.     It  was  strange,  too,  to  ob- 


155 


serve  how  the  earth,  out  of  which  they  had  so 
lately  grown,  was  incrusted,  here  and  there,  on 
their  bright  breastplates,  and  even  begrimed  their 
faces;  just  as  you  may  have  seen  it  clinging  to 
beets  and  carrots,  when  pulled  out  of  their  native 
soil.  Cadmus  hardly  knew  whether  to  consider 
them  as  men,  or  some  odd  kind  of  vegetable; 
although,  on  the  whole,  he  concluded  that  there 
was  human  nature  in  them,  because  they  were 
60  fond  of  trumpets  and  weapons,  and  so  ready 
to  shed  blood. 

They  looked  him  earnestly  in  the  face,  wait- 
ing for  his  next  order,  and  evidently  desiring  no 
other  employment  than  to  follow  him  from  one 
battle  field  to  another,  all  over  the  wide  world. 
But  Cadmus  was  wiser  than  these  earth-born 
creatures,  with  the  dragon's  fierceness  in  them, 
and  knew  better  how  to  use  their  strength  and 
hardihood. 

"  Come  !  "  said  he.  "  You  are  sturdy  fellows. 
Make  yourselves  useful !  Quarry  some  stones 
with  those  great  swords  of  yours,  and  help  me 
to  build  a  city." 

The  five  soldiers  grumbled  a  little,  and  mut- 
tered that   it  was   their   business  to  overthrow 


156  THE  dragon's  teeth. 

cities,  not  to  build  them  up.  But  Cadmus 
looked  at  them  with  a  stern  eye,  and  spoke  to 
them  in  a  tone  of  authority,  so  that  they  knew 
him  for  their  master,  and  never  again  thought  of 
disobeying  his  commands.  They  set  to  work  in 
good  earnest,  and  toiled  so  diligently,  that,  in  a 
very  short  time,  a  city  began  to  make  its  appear- 
ance. At  first,  to  be  sure,  the  workmen  showed 
a  quarrelsome  disposition.  Like  savage  beasts, 
they  would  doubtless  have  done  one  another  a 
mischief,  if  Cadmus  had  not  kept  watch  over 
them,  and  quelled  the  fierce  old  serpent  that 
lurked  in  their  hearts,  when  he  saw  it  gleaming 
out  of  their  wild  eyes.  But,  in  course  of  time, 
they  got  accustomed  to  honest  labor,  and  had 
sense  enough  to  feel  that  there  was  more  true 
enjoyment  in  living  at  peace,  and  doing  good  to 
one's  neighbor,  than  in  striking  at  him  with  a 
two-edged  sword.  It  may  not  be  too  much  to 
hope  that  the  rest  of  mankind  will  by  and  by 
grow  as  wise  and  peaceable  as  these  five  earth- 
begrimed  warriors,  who  sprang  from  the  drag- 
on's teeth. 

And  now  the  city  was  built,  and  there  was  a 
home  in  it  for  each  of  the  workmen.     But  the 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  157 

palace  of  Cadmus  was  not  yet  erected,  because 
they  had  left  it  till  the  last,  meaning  to  introduce 
all  the  new  improvements  of  architecture,  and 
make  it  very  commodious,  as  well  as  stately  and 
beautiful.  After  finishing  the  rest  of  their  labors, 
they  all  went  to  bed  betimes,  in  order  to  rise  in 
the  gray  of  the  morning,  and  get  at  least  the 
foundation  of  the  edifice  laid  before  nightfall. 
But,  when  Cadmus  arose,  and  took  his  way  to- 
wards the  site  where  the  palace  was  to  be  built, 
followed  by  his  five  sturdy  workmen  marching 
all  in  a  row,  what  do  you  think  he  saw  ? 

What  should  it  be  but  the  most  magnificent 
palace  that  had  ever  been  seen  in  the  world.  It 
was  built  of  marble  and  other  beautiful  kinds  of 
stone,  and  rose  high  into  the  air,  with  a  splendid 
dome  and  a  portico  along  the  front,  and  carved 
pillars,  and  every  thing  else  that  befitted  the 
habitation  of  a  mighty  king.  It  had  grown  up 
out  of  the  earth  in  almost  as  short  a  time  as  it 
had  taken  the  armed  host  to  spring  from  the 
dragon's  teeth  ;  and  what  made  the  matter  more 
strange,  no  seed  of  this  stately  edifice  had  ever 
been  planted. 

When  the  five  workmen  beheld  the  dome,  with 


158 


the  morning  sunshine  making  it  look  golden  and 
glorious,  they  gave  a  great  shout. 

"  Long  live  King  Cadmus,"  they  cried,  "  in  his 
beautiful  palace." 

And  the  new  king,  with  his  five  faithful  follow- 
ers at  his  heels,  shouldering  their  pickaxes  and 
marching  in  a  rank,  (for  they  still  had  a  soldierlike 
sort  of  behavior,  as  their  nature  was,)  ascended 
the  palace  steps.  Halting  at  the  entrance,  they 
gazed  through  a  long  vista  of  lofty  pillars,  that 
were  ranged  from  end  to  end  of  a  great  hall.  At 
the  farther  extremity  of  this  hall,  approaching 
slowly  towards  him,  Cadmus  beheld  a  female 
figure,  wonderfully  beautiful,  and  adorned  with 
a  royal  robe,  and  a  crown  of  diamonds  over  her 
golden  ringlets,  and  the  richest  necklace  that 
ever  a  queen  wore.  His  heart  thrilled  with  de- 
light. He  fancied  it  his  long-lost  sister  Europa, 
now  grown  to  womanhood,  coming  to  make  him 
happy,  and  to  repay  him  with  her  sweet  sisterly 
aflfection,  for  all  those  weary  wanderings  in  quest 
of  her  since  he  left  King  Agenor's  palace — for 
the  tears  that  he  had  shed,  on  parting  with 
Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  and  Thasus  —  for  the  heart- 
breakings  that  had  made  the  whole  world  seem 
dismal  to  him  over  his  dear  mother's  grave. 


THE  dragon's  teeth.  159 

But,  as  Cadmus  advanced  to  meet  the  beauti- 
ful stranger,  he  saw  that  her  features  were  un- 
known to  him,  although,  in  the  little  time  that  it 
required  to  tread  along  the  hall,  he  had  already 
felt  a  sympathy  betwixt  himself  and  her. 

"  No,  Cadmus,"  said  the  same  voice  that  had 
spoken  to  him  in  the  field  of  the  armed  men, 
"  this  is  not  that  dear  sister  Europa  whom  you 
have  sought  so  faithfully  all  over  the  wide  world. 
This  is  Harmonia,  a  daughter  of  the  sky,  who 
is  given  you  instead  of  sister,  and  brothers,  and 
friend,  and  mother.  You  will  find  all  thos^.  dear 
ones  in  her  alone." 

So  King  Cadmus  dwelt  in  the  paiace,  with  his 
new  friend  Harmonia,  and  found  a  great  deal  of 
comfort  in  his  magnificent  abode,  but  would 
doubtless  have  found  as  much,  if  not  more,  in 
the  humblest  cottage  by  the  wayside.  Before 
many  years  went  by,  there  was  a  group  of  rosy 
little  children  (but  how  they  came  thither  has 
always  been  a  mystery  to  me)  sporting  in  the 
great  hall,  and  on  the  marble  steps  of  the  palace, 
and  running  joyfully  to  meet  King  Cadmus  when 
affairs  of  state  left  him  at  leisure  to  play  with 
them.      They    called    him    father,    and    Queen 


160  THE    DRAGOxN's    teeth. 

Harmonia  mother.  The  five  old  soldiers  of  the 
dragon's  teeth  grew  very  fond  of  these  small 
urchins,  and  were  never  weary  of  showing  them 
how  to  shoulder  sticks,  flourish  wooden  swords, 
and  march  in  military  order,  blowing  a  penny 
trumpet,  or  beating  an  abominable  rub-a-dub 
upon  a  little  drum. 

But  King  Cadmus,  lest  there  should  be  too 
much  of  the  dragon's  tooth  in  his  children's  dis- 
position, used  to  find  time  from  his  kingly  duties 
to  teach  them  their  ABC  —  which  he  invented 
for  their  benefit,  and  for  which  many  little  peo- 
ple, 1  am  afraid,  are  not  half  so  grateful  to  him 
as  they  ought  to  be. 


CIRCE'S    PALACE.  lUl 


CIRCE'S     PALACE. 


Some  of  you  have  heard,  no  doubt,  of  the  wise 
King  Ulysses,  and  how  he  went  to  the  siege  of 
Troy,  and  how,  after  that  famous  city  was  taken 
and  burned,  he  spent  ten  long  years  in  trying  to 
get  back  again  to  his  own  little  kingdom  of 
Ithaca.  At  one  time  in  the  course  of  this  weary 
voyage,  he  arrived  at  an  island  that  looked  very 
green  and  pleasant,  but  the  name  of  which  w^a3 
unknown  to  him.  For,  only  a  little  while  before 
he  came  thither,  he  had  met  with  a  terrible  hurri- 
cane, or  rather  a  great  many  hurricanes  at  once, 
which  drove  his  fleet  of  vessels  into  a  strange  part 
of  the  sea,  where  neither  himself  nor  any  of  his 
mariners  had  ever  sailed.  This  misfortune  was 
entirely  owing  to  the  foolish  curiosity  of  his  ship- 
mates, who,  while  Ulysses  lay  asleep,  had  untied 
some  very  bulky  leathern  bags,  in  which  they 
11 


162  circe's  pat  ace. 

supposed  a  valuable  treasure  to  be  concealed. 
But  in  each  of  these  stout  bags,  King  ^olus, 
the  ruler  of  the  winds,  had  tied  up  a  tempest, 
and  had  given  it  to  Ulysses  to  keep,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  sure  of  a  favorable  passage  home- 
ward to  Ithaca  ;  and  when  the  strings  were 
loosened,  forth  rushed  the  whistling  blasts,  like 
air  out  of  a  blown  bladder,  whitening  the  sea 
with  foam,  and  scattering  the  vessels  nobody 
could  tell  whither. 

Immediately  after  escaping  from  this  peril,  a 
still  greater  one  had  befallen  him.  Scudding  be- 
fore the  hurricane,  he  reached  a  place,  which,  as  he 
afterwards  found,  was  called  Lasstrygonia,  where 
some  monstrous  giants  had  eaten  up  many  of 
his  companions,  and  had  sunk  every  one  of  his 
vessels,  except  that  in  which  he  himself  sailed, 
by  flinging  great  masses  of  rock  at  them,  from 
the  cliffs  along  the  shore.  After  going  through 
such  troubles  as  these,  you  cannot  wonder  that 
King  Ulysses  was  glaci  to  moor  his  tempest- 
beaten  bark  in  a  quiet  cove  of  the  green  island, 
which  I  began  with  telling  you  about.  But  he 
had  encountered  so  many  dangers  from  giants, 
and  one-eyed  Cyclopes,  dnd  monsters  of  the  sea 


circe's  palace.  •  163 

and  land,  that  he  could  not  help  dreading  some 
mischief,  even  in  this  pleasant  and  seemingly 
solitary  spot.  For  two  days,  therefore,  the  poor 
weather-worn  voyagers  kept  quiet,  and  either 
staid  on  board  of  their  vessel,  or  merely  crept 
along  under  the  cliffs  that  bordered  the  shore  ; 
and  to  keep  themselves  alive,  they  dug  shellfish 
out  of  the  sand,  and  sought  for  any  little  rill  of 
fresh  water  that  might  be  running  towards  the  sea. 
Before  the  two  days  were  spent,  they  grew 
very  weary  of  this  kind  of  life  ;  for  the  followers 
of  King  Ulysses,  as  you  will  find  it  important  to 
remember,  were  terrible  gormandizers,  and  pretty 
sure  to  grumble  if  they  missed  their  regular 
meals,  and  their  irregular  ones  besides.  Their 
stock  of  provisions  was  quite  exhausted,  and 
even  the  shellfish  began  to  get  scarce,  so  that 
they  had  now  to  choose  between  starving  to 
death  or  venturing  into  the  interior  of  the  island, 
where  perhaps  some  huge  three-headed  dragon, 
or  other  horrible  monster,  had  his  den.  Such 
misshapen  creatures  were  very  numerous  in  those 
*da^s  ;  and  nobody  ever  expected  to  make  a 
voyage,  or  take  a  journey,  without  running  more 
or  less  risk  of  being  devoured  by  them. 


164 


But  King  Ulysses  was  a  bold  man  as  well  as 
a  prudent  one ;  and  on  the  third  morning  he 
determined  to  discover  what  sort  of  a  place  the 
island  was,  and  whether  it  were  possible  to  ob- 
tain a  supply  of  food  for  the  hungry  mouths 
of  his  companions.  So,  taking  a  spear  in  his 
hand,  he  clambered  to  the  summit  of  a  cliff,  and 
gazed  round  about  him.  At  a  distance,  towards 
the  centre  of  the  island,  he  beheld  the  stately 
towers  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  palace,  built  of 
snow-white  marble,  and  rising  in  the  midst  of  a 
grove  of  lofty  trees.  The  thick  branches  of  these 
trees  stretched  across  the  front  of  the  edifice,  and 
more  than  half  concealed  it,  although,  from  the 
portion  which  he  saw,  Ulysses  judged  it  to  be 
spacious  and  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  probably 
the  residence  of  some  great  nobleman  or  prince. 
A  blue  smoke  went  curling  up  from  the  chimney, 
and  was  almost  the  pleasantest  part  of  the  spec- 
tacle to  Ulysses.  For,  from  the  abundance  of 
this  smoke,  it  was  reasonable  to  conclude  that 
there  was  a  good  fire  in  the  kitchen,  and  that,  at 
dinner  time,  a  plentiful  banquet  would  be  served 
up  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  palace,  and  to  what* 
ever  guests  might  happen  to  drop  in. 


165 


With  so  agreeable  a  prospect  before  him; 
Ulysses  fancied  that  he  could  not  do  better  than 
to  go  straight  to  the  palace  gate,  and  tell  the 
master  of  it  that  there  was  a  crew  of  poor  ship- 
wrecked mariners,  not  far  off,  who  had  eaten 
nothing  for  a  day  or  two,  save  a  few  clams  and 
oysters,  and  would  therefore  be  thankful  for  a 
little  food.  And  the  prince  or  nobleman  must 
be  a  very  stingy  curmudgeon,  to  be  sure,  if,  at 
least,  when  his  own  dinner  was  over,  he  would 
not  bid  them  welcome  to  the  broken  victuals 
from  the  table. 

Pleasing  himself  with  this  idea.  King  Ulysses 
had  made  a  few  steps  in  the  direction  of  the 
palace,  when  there  was  a  great  twittering  and 
chirping  from  the  branch  of  a  neighboring  tree. 
A  moment  afterwards,  a  bird  came  flying  to- 
wards him,  and  hovered  in  the  air,  so  as  al- 
most to  brush  his  face  with  its  wins^s.  It  was 
a  very  pretty  little  bird,  with  purple  wings  and 
body,  and  yellow  legs,  and  a  circle  of  golden 
feathers  round  its  neck,  and  on  its  head  a  golden 
tuft,  which  looked  like  a  king's  crown  in  minia- 
ture. Ulysses  tried  to  catch  the  bird.  But  it 
fluttered  nimbly  out  of  his  reach,  still  chirping 


166  circe's  palace. 

in  a  piteous  tone,  as  if  it  could  have  told  a 
lamentable  story,  had  it  only  been  gifted  with 
human  language.  And  when  he  attempted  to 
drive  it  away,  the  bird  flew  no  farther  than  the 
bough  of  the  next  tree,  and  again  came  fluttering 
about  his  head,  with  its  doleful  chirp,  as  soon  as 
he  showed  a  purpose  of  going  forward. 

"  Have  you  any  thing  to  tell  me,  little  bird  ?  " 
asked  Ulysses. 

And  he  was  ready  to  listen  attentively  to 
whatever  the  bird  might  communicate  ;  for,  at 
the  siege  of  Troy,  and  elsewhere,  he  had  known 
such  odd  things  to  happen,  that  he  would  not 
have  considered  it  much  out  of  the  common  run 
had  this  little  feathered  creature  talked  as  plainly 
as  himself. 

"Peep!"  said  the  bird,  "peep,  peep,  pe  — 
weep  I "  And  nothing  else  would  it  say,  but 
only,  "  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep  !  "  in  a  melan- 
choly cadence,  and  over  and  over  and  over 
again.  As  often  as  Ulysses  moved  forward, 
however,  the  bird  showed  the  greatest  alarm,  and 
did  its  best  to  drive  him  back,  with  the  anxious 
flutter  of  its  purple  wings.  Its  unaccountable 
behavior   made  him   conclude,  at  last,  that  the 


167 


bird  knew  of  some  danger  that  awaited  him,  and 
which  must  needs  be  very  terrible,  beyond  all 
question,  since  it  moved  even  a  little  fowl  to 
feel  compassion  for  a  human  being.  So  he  re- 
solved, for  the  present,  to  return  to  the  vessel, 
and  tell  his  companions  what  he  had  seen. 

This  appeared  to  satisfy  the  bird.  As  soon 
as  Ulysses  turned  back,  it  ran  up  the  trunk  of  a 
tree,  and  began  to  pick  insects  out  of  the  bark 
with  its  long,  sharp  bill ;  for  it  was  a  kind  of 
woodpecker,  you  must  know,  and  had  to  get  its 
living  in  the  same  manner  as  other  birds  of  that 
species.  But  every  little  while,  as  it  pecked  at 
the  bark  of  the  tree,  the  purple  bird  bethought 
itself  of  some  secret  sorrow,  and  repeated  its 
plaintive  note  of  "  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep ! " 

On  his  way  to  the  shore,  Ulysses  had  the  good 
luck  to  kill  a  large  stag  by  thrusting  his  spear 
into  its  back.  Taking  it  on  his  shoulders,  (for 
he  was  a  remarkably  strong  man,)  he  lugged  it 
along  with  him,  and  flung  it  down  before  his 
hungry  companions.  I  have  already  hinted  to 
you  what  gormandizers  some  of  the  comrades 
of  King  Ulysses  were.  From  what  is  related 
of  them,   I  reckon  that  their  favorite  diet  wag 


168 


pork,  and  that  they  had  lived  upon  it  until  a 
good  part  of  their  physical  substance  was  swine's 
flesh,  and  their  tempers  and  dispositions  were 
very  much  akin  to  the  hog.  A  dish  of  venison, 
however,  was  no  unacceptable  meal  to  them, 
especially  after  feeding  so  long  on  oysters  and 
clams.  So,  beholding  the  dead  stag,  they  felt 
of  its  ribs,  in  a  knowing  way,  and  lost  no  time 
in  kindling  a  fire,  of  driftwood,  to  cook  it.  The 
rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  feasting ;  and  if 
these  enormous  eaters  got  up  from  table  at  sun- 
set, it  was  only  because  they  could  not  scrape 
another  morsel  off  the  poor  animal's  bones. 

The  next  morning,  their  appetites  were  as 
sharp  as  ever.  They  looked  at  Ulysses,  as  if 
they  expected  him  to  clamber  up  the  cliff'  again, 
and  come  back  with  another  fat  deer  upon  his 
shoulders.  Instead  of  setting  out,  however,  he 
summoned  the  whole  crew  together,  and  told 
them  it  was  in  vain  to  hope  that  he  could  kill  a 
stag  every  day  for  their  dinner,  and  therefore  it 
was  advisable  to  think  of  some  other  mode  of 
satisfying  their  hunger. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  when  I  was  on  the  cliff, 
yesterday,  I  discovered  that  this  island  is  inhab- 


169 


ited.  At  a  considerable  distance  from  the  shore 
stood  a  marble  palace,  which  appeared  to  be 
very  spacious,  and  had  a  great  deal  of  smoke 
curling  out  of  one  of  its  chimneys." 

"Aha!"  muttered  some  of  his  companions, 
smacking  their  lips.  *'  That  smoke  must  have 
come  from  the  kitchen  fire.  There  was  a  good 
dinner  on  the  spit ;  and  no  doubt  there  will  be 
as  good  a  one  to-day." 

"  But,  "  continued  the  wise  Ulysses, "  you  must 
remember,  my  good  friends,  our  misadventure  in 
the  cavern  of  one-eyed  Polyphemus,  the  Cyclops  I 
Instead  of  his  ordinary  milk  diet,  did  he  not  eat 
up  two  of  our  comrades  for  his  supper,  and  a 
couple  more  for  breakfast,  and  two  at  his  supper 
again  ?  Methinks  I  see  him  yet,  the  hideous 
monster,  scanning  us  with  that  great  red  eye,  in 
the  middle  of  his  forehead,  to  single  out  the  fat- 
test. And  then,  again,  only  a  few  days  ago, 
did  we  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  king  of  the 
Lsestrygons,  and  those  other  horrible  giants,  his 
subjects,  who  devoured  a  great  many  more  of  us 
than  are  now  left  ?  To  tell  you  the  truth,  if  we 
go  to  yonder  palace,  there  can  be  no  question 
that  we  shall  make  our  appearance  at  the  dinner 


170 


table ;  but  whether  seated  as  guests,  or  served 
up  as  food,  is  a  point  to  be  seriously  considered."  • 

'•  Either  way,"  murmured  some  of  the  hun- 
griest of  the  crew,  "  it  will  be  better  than  starva- 
tion ;  particularly  if  one  could  be  sure  of  being 
well  fattened  beforehand,  and  daintily  cooked 
afterwards." 

<'  That  is  a  matter  of  taste,"  said  King  Ulys- 
ses, "  and,  for  my  own  part,  neither  the  most 
careful  fattening  nor  the  daintiest  of  cookery 
would  reconcile  me  to  being  dished  at  last.  My 
proposal  is,  therefore,  that  we  divide  ourselves 
into  two  equal  parties,  and  ascertain,  by  draw- 
ing lots,  which  of  the  two  shall  go  to  the  palace, 
and  beg  for  food  and  assistance.  If  these  can 
be  obtained,  all  is  well.  If  not,  and  if  the  in- 
habitants prove  as  inhospitable  as  Polyphemus, 
or  the  Laestrygons,  then  there  will  but  half  of 
us  perish,  and  the  remainder  may  set  sail  and 
escape." 

As  nobody  objected  to  this  scheme,  Ulysses 
proceeded  to  count  the  whole  band,  and  found 
that  there  were  forty-six  men,  including  himself. 
He  then  numbered  off  twenty-two  of  them,  and 
put  Eurylochus  (who  was  one  of  his  chief  offi- 


171 


cers,  and  second  only  to  himself  in  sagacity)  at 
their  head.  Ulysses  took  command  of  the  re- 
maining twenty-two  men,  in  person.  Then,  tak- 
ing off  his  helmet,  he  put  two  shells  into  it,  on 
one  of  which  was  written,  "  Go,"  and  on  the 
other,  "  Stay."  Another  person  now  held  the 
helmet,  while  Ulysses  and  Eurylochus  drew  out 
each  a  shell;  and  the  word  "  Go"  was  found 
written  on  that  which  Eurylochus  had  drawn. 
In  this  manner,  it  was  decided  that  Ulysses  and 
his  twenty-two  men  were  to  remain  at  the  sea- 
side until  the  other  party  should  have  found  out 
what  sort  of  treatment  they  might  expect  at  the 
mysterious  palace.  As  there  was  no  help  for  it, 
Eurylochus  immediately  set  forth  at  the  head  of 
his  twenty-two  followers,  who  went  off  in  a  very 
melancholy  state  of  mind,  leaving  their  friends 
in  hardly  better  spirits  than  themselves. 

No  sooner  had  they  clambered  up  the  cliff,  than 
they  discerned  the  tall  marble  towers  of  the 
palace,  ascending,  as  white  as  snow,  out  of  the 
lovely  green  shadow  of  the  trees  which  sur- 
rounded it.  A  gush  of  smoke  came  from  a  chim- 
ney in  the  rear  of  the  edifice.  This  vapor  rose 
high  in  the  air,  and,  meeting  with  a  breeze,  was 


172  circe's  palace. 

wafted  seaward,  and  made  to  pass  over  the  heads 
of  the  hungry  mariners.  When  people's  appe- 
tites are  keen,  they  have  a  very  quick  scent  for 
any  thing  savory  in  the  wind. 

"  That  smoke  comes  from  the  kitchen ! "  cried 
one  of  them,  turning  up  his  nose  as  high  as  he 
could,  and  snuffing  eagerly.  "  And,  as  sure  as 
I'm  a  half-starved  vagabond,  I  smell  roast  meat 
in  it." 

"Pig,  roast  pig!"  said  another.  "Ah,  the 
dainty  little  porker !  My  mouth  waters  for 
him." 

"  Let  us  make  haste,"  cried  the  others,  "  or  we 
shall  be  too  late  for  the  good  cheer  I  " 

But  scarcely  had  they  made  half  a  dozen  steps 
from  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  when  a  bird  came  flut- 
tering to  meet  them.  It  was  the  same  pretty 
little  bird,  with  the  purple  wings  and  body,  the 
yellow  legs,  the  golden  collar  round  its  neck,  and 
the  crown-like  tuft  upon  its  head,  whose  behavior 
had  so  much  surprised  Ulysses.  It  hovered 
about  Eurylochus,  and  almost  brushed  his  face 
with  its  wings. 

"  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep!"  chirped  the  bird. 

So  plaintively  intelligent  was  the  sound,  that 


173 


it  seemed  as  if  the  little  creature  were  going  to 
break  its  heart  with  some  mighty  secret  that  it 
had  to  tell,  and  only  this  one  poor  note  to  tell 
it  with. 

"  My  pretty  bird,"  said  Eurylochus,  —  for  he 
w^as  a  wary  person,  and  let  no  token  of  harm  es- 
cape his  notice,  — "  my  pretty  bird,  who  sent  you 
hither  ?  And  what  is  the  message  which  you 
bring?" 

"Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep  I"  replied  the  bird, 
very  sorrowfully. 

Then  it  flew  towards  the  edge  of  the  cliff, 
and  looked  round  at  them,  as  if  exceedingly 
anxious  that  they  should  return  whence  they 
came.  Eurylochus  and  a  few  of  the  others  were 
inclined  to  turn  back.  They  could  not  help  sus- 
pecting that  the  purple  bird  must  be  aware  of 
something'  mischievous  that  would  befall  them 
at  the  palace,  and  the  knowledge  of  which  af- 
fected its  airy  spirit  with  a  human  sympathy  and 
sorrow.  But  the  rest  of  the  voyagers,  snuffing 
up  the  smoke  from  the  palace  kitchen,  ridicuh^d 
the  idea  of  returning  to  the  vessel.  One  of  them 
(more  brutal  than  his  fellows,  and  the  most  no- 
torious gormandizer  in  the  whole  crew)  said  such 


in 


a  cruel  and  wicked  thing,  that  I  wonder  the  mere 
thought  did  not  turn  him  into  a  wild  beast,  in 
shape,  as  he  already  was  in  his  nature. 

"  This  troublesome  and  impertinent  little  fowl," 
said  he,  "  would  make  a  delicate  titbit  to  begin 
dinner  with.  Just  one  plump  morsel,  melting 
away  between  the  teeth.  If  he  comes  within 
my  reach,  I'll  catch  him,  and  give  him  to  the 
palace  cook  to  be  roasted  on  a  skewer." 

The  words  were  hardly  out  of  his  mouth,  be- 
fore the  purple  bird  flew  away,  crying,  "  Peep, 
peep,  pe  —  weep,"  more  dolorously  than  ever. 

"  That  bird,"  remarked  Eurylochus,  "  knows 
more  than  we  do  about  what  awaits  us  at  the 
palace." 

"  Come  on,  then,"  cried  his  comrades,  "  and 
we'll  soon  know  as  much  as  he  does." 

The  party,  accordingly,  went  onward  through 
the  green  and  pleasant  wood.  Every  little  while 
they  caught  new  glimpses  of  the  marble  pal- 
ace, which  looked  more  and  more  beautiful  the 
nearer  they  approached  it.  They  soon  entered 
a  broad  pathway,  which  seemed  to  be  very  neat- 
ly kept,  and  which  went  winding  along,  with 
streaks  of  sunshine  falling  across   it,  and  specks 


175 


of  light  quivering  among  the  deepest  shadows 
that  fell  from  the  lofty  trees.  It  was  bordered, 
too,  with  a  great  many  sweet-smelling  flowers, 
such  as  the  mariners  had  never  seen  before.  So 
rich  and  beautiful  they  were,  that,  if  the  shrubs 
grew  wild  here,  and  were  native  in  the  soil,  then 
this  island  was  surely  the  flower  garden  of  the 
whole  earth ;  or,  if  transplanted  from  some  other 
".lime,  it  must  have  been  from  the  Happy  Islands 
chat  lay  towards  the  golden  sunset. 

"  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  pains  foolish- 
ly wasted  on  these  flowers,"  observed  one  of  the 
company ;  and  I  tell  you  what  he  said,  that  you 
may  keep  in  mind  what  gormandizers  they  were. 
"  For  my  part,  if  I  were  the  owner  of  the  palace, 
I  would  bid  my  gardener  cultivate  nothing  but 
savory  pot  herbs  to  make  a  stuffing  for  roast 
meat,  or  to  flavor  a  stew  with." 

*'  Well  said ! "  cried  the  others.  "  But  I'll  war- 
rant you  there's  a  kitchen  garden  in  the  rear  of 
the  palace." 

At  one  place  they  came  to  a  crystal  spring, 
and  paused  to  drink  at  it  for  want  of  liquor 
which  they  liked  better.  Looking  into  its  bosom, 
they  beheld  their  own  faces  dimly  reflected,  but 


176  circe's  palace. 

so  extravagantly  distorted  by  the  gush  and  mo* 
tion  of  the  water,  that  each  one  of  them  appeared 
to  be  laughing  at  himself  and  all  his  companions. 
So  ridiculous  were  these  images  of  themselves, 
indeed,  that  they  did  really  laugh  aloud,  and 
could  hardly  be  grave  again  as  soon  as  they 
wished.  And  after  they  had  drank,  they  grew 
still  merrier  than   before. 

"  It  has  a  twang  of  the  wine  cask  in  it,"  said 
one,  smacking  his  lips. 

"Make  haste!"  cried  his  fellows;  "  we'll  tind 
the  wine  cask  itself  at  the  palace ;  and  that  will 
be  better  than  a  hundred  crystal  fountains." 

Then  they  quickened  their  pace,  and  capered 
for  joy  at  the  thought  of  the  savory  banquet  at 
which  they  hoj)ed  to  be  guests.  But  Eurylochus 
told  them  that  he  felt  as  if  he  were  walking  in  a 
dream. 

"  If  I  am  really  awake,"  continued  he,  "  then, 
in  my  opinion,  we  are  on  the  point  of  meeting 
with  some  strangtT  adventure  than  any  that 
befell  us  in  the  cave  of  Polyphemus,  or  among 
the  gigantic  man-eating  Lcestrygons,  or  in  the 
windy  palace  of  King^olus,  which  stands  on  a 
brazen-walled  island.     This  kind  of  dreamy  feel 


177 


ing  always  comes  over  me  before  any  wonderful 
occurrence.  If  you  take  my  advice,  you  will  turn 
back." 

**  No,  no,"  answered  his  comrades,  snuffing  the 
air,  in  which  the  scent  from  the  palace  kitchen 
was  now  very  perceptible.  "  We  would  not 
turn  back,  though  we  were  certain  that  the  king 
of  the  Lsestrygons,  as  big  as  a  mountain,  would 
sit  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  huge  Polyphe- 
mus, the  one-eyed  Cyclops,  at  its  foot." 

At  length  they  cam.e  within  full  sight  of  the 
palace,  which  proved  to  be  very  large  and  lofty, 
with  a  great  number  of  airy  pinnacles  upon  its 
roof.  Though  it  was  now  midday,  and  the  sun 
shone  brightly  over  the  marble  front,  yet  its 
snowy  whiteness,  and  its  fantastic  style  of  archi- 
tecture, made  it  look  unreal,  like  the  frostwork 
on  a  window  pane,  or  like  the  shapes  of  castles 
which  one  sees  among  the  clouds  by  moonlight. 
But,  just  then,  a  puff  of  wind  brought  down  the 
smoke  of  the  kitchen  chimney  among  them, 
and  caused  each  man  to  smell  the  odor  of  the 
dish  that  he  liked  best;  and,  after  scenting  it, 
they  thought  every  thing  else  moonshine,  and 
nothing  real  save  this  palace,  and  save  the 
12 


178 


banquet  that  was  Gvidently  ready  to  be  served 
up  in  it. 

So  they  hastened  their  steps  towards  the  portal, 
but  had  not  got  half  way  across  the  wide  lawn, 
when  a  pack  of  lions,  tigers,  and  wolves  came 
bounding  to  meet  them.  The  terrified  mariners 
started  back,  expecting  no  better  fate  than  to  be 
torn  to  pieces  and  devoured.  To  their  surprise 
and  joy,  however,  these  wild  beasts  merely  ca- 
pered around  them,  wagging  their  tails,  offering 
their  heads  to  be  stroked  and  patted,  and  be- 
having just  like  so  many  well-bred  house  dogs, 
when  they  wish  to  express  their  delight  at  meet- 
ing their  master,  or  their  master's  friends.  The 
biggest  lion  licked  the  feet  of  Eurylochus  ;  and 
every  other  lion,  and  every  wolf  and  tiger,  singled 
out  one  of  his  two  and  twenty  followers,  whom 
the  beast  fondled  as  if  he  loved  him  better  than 
a  beef  bone. 

But,  for  all  that,  Eurylochus  imagined  that  he 
saw  something  fierce  and  savage  in  their  eyes; 
nor  would  he  have  been  surprised,  at  any  mo- 
ment, to  feel  the  big  lion's  terrible  claws,  or  to 
see  each  of  the  tigers  make  a  deadly  spring,  or 
each  wolf  leap  at  the  throat  of  the  man  whom 


circe's  palace.  179 

he  had  fondled.  Their  mildness  seemed  un- 
real, and  a  mere  freak  ;  but  their  savage  nature 
was  as  true  as  their  teeth  and  claws. 

Nevertheless,  the  men  went  safely  across  the 
lawn  with  the  wild  beasts  frisking  about  them, 
and  doing  no  manner  of  harm ;  although,  as 
they  mounted  the  steps  of  the  palace,  you  might 
possibly  have  heard  a  low  growl,  particularly 
from  the  wolves  ;  as  if  they  thought  it  a  pity, 
after  all,  to  let  the  strangers  pass  without  so 
much  as  tasting  what  they  were  made   of. 

Eurylochus  and  his  followers  now  passed  un- 
der a  lofty  portal,  and  looked  through  the  open 
doorway  into  the  interior  of  the  palace.  The 
first  thing  that  they  saw  was  a  spacious  hall, 
and  a  fountain  in  the  middle  of  it,  gushing 
up  towards  the  ceiling  out  of  a  marble  basin, 
and  falling  back  into  it  with  a  continual  plash. 
The  water  of  this  fountain,  as  it  spouted  up- 
ward, was  constantly  taking  new  shapes,  not  very 
distinctly,  but  plainly  enough  for  a  nimble  fancy 
to  recognize  what  they  were.  Now  it  was  the 
shape  of  a  man  in  a  long  robe,  the  fleecy  white- 
ness of  which  was  made  out  of  the  fountain's 
spray ;  now  it  was  a  lion,  or  a  tiger,  or  a  wolf, 


I8d 


or  an  ass,  or,  as  often  as  any  thing  else,  a  hog, 
wallowing  in  the  marble  basin  as  if  it  were  his 
sty.  It  was  either  magic  or  some  very  curious 
machinery  that  caused  the  gushing  waterspout 
to  assume  all  these  forms.  But,  before  the 
strangers  had  time  to  look  closely  at  this  won- 
derful sight,  their  attention  was  drawn  off  by  a 
very  sweet  and  agreeable  sound.  A  woman's 
voice  w^as  singing  melodiously  in  another  room 
of  the  palace,  and  with  her  voice  was  mingled 
the  noise  of  a  loom,  at  which  she  was  probably 
seated,  weaving  a  rich  texture  of  cloth,  and  in- 
tertwining the  high  and  low  sweetness  of  her 
voice  into  a  rich  tissue  of  harmony. 

By  and  by,  the  song  came  to  an  end ;  and 
then,  all  at  once,  there  were  several  feminine 
voices,  talking  airily  and  cheerfully,  with  now 
and  then  a  merry  burst  of  laughter,  such  as  you 
may  always  hear  when  three  or  four  young 
women  sit  at  work  together. 

"What  a  sweet  song  that  was  I  "  exclaimed 
one  of  the  voyagers. 

"  Too  sweet,  indeed,"  answered  Eurylochus, 
shaking  his  head.  "  Yet  it  was  not  so  sweet 
as  the  song  of  the  Sirens,  those  bird-like  damsels 


181 


who  wanted  to  tempt  us  on  the  rocks,  so  that 
our  vessel  might  be  wrecked,  and  our  bones  left 
whitening  along  the  shore." 

"  But  just  listen  to  the  pleasant  voices  of  those 
maidens,  and  that  buzz  of  the  loom,  as  the  shut- 
tle passes  to  and  fro,"  said  another  comrade. 
"  What  a  domestic,  household,  home-like  sound 
it  is !  Ah,  before  that  weary  siege  of  Troy,  I 
used  to  hear  the  buzzing  loom  and  the  women's 
voices  under  my  own  roof.  Shall  I  never  hear 
them  again  ?  nor  taste  those  nice  little  savory 
dishes  which  my  dearest  wife  knew  how  to 
serve  up  ?  " 

"  Tush !  we  shall  fare  better  here,"  said  anoth- 
er. "  But  how  innocently  those  women  are  bab- 
bling together,  without  guessing  that  we  over- 
hear them  I  And  mark  that  richest  voice  of  all, 
so  pleasant  and  familiar,  but  which  yet  seems  to 
have  the  authority  of  a  mistress  among  them. 
Let  us  show  ourselves  at  once.  What  harm 
can  the  lady  of  the  palace  and  her  maidens  do 
to  mariners  and  warriors  like  us  ?  " 

"  Remember,"  said  Eurylochus,  "  that  it  was 
a  young  maiden  who  beguiled  three  of  our  friends 
into  the  palace  of  the  king  of  the  Lsestrygons, 


182  circe's   palack. 

who  ate  up  one  of  them  in  the  twinklinsr  of 
an  eye." 

No  warning  or  persuasion,  however,  had  any 
effect  on  his  companions.  They  went  up  to  a 
pair  of  folding  doors  at  the  farther  end  of  the 
hall,  and  throwing  them  wide  open,  passed  into 
the  next  room.  Eurylochus,  meanwhile,  had 
stepped  behind  a  pillar.  In  the  short  moment 
while  the  folding  doors  opened  and  closed  again, 
he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  very  beautiful  woman 
rising  from  the  loom,  and  coming  to  meet  the 
poor  weather-beaten  wanderers,  with  a  hospita- 
ble smile,  and  her  hand  stretched  out  in  welcome. 
There  were  four  other  young  women,  who  joined 
their  hands  and  danced  merrily  forward,  making 
gestures  of  obeisance  to  the  strangers.  They 
were  only  less  beautiful  than  the  lady  who 
seemed  to  be  their  mistress.  Yet  Eurylochus 
fancied  that  one  of  them  had  sea-green  hair,  and 
that  the  close-fittinsr  bodice  of  a  second  looked 
like  the  bark  of  a  tree,  and  that  both  the  others 
had  something  odd  in  their  aspect,  although  he 
could  not  quite  determine  what  it  was,  in  the 
little  while  that  he  had  to  examine  them. 

The   folding  doors   swung  quickly   back,  and 


CIRCE'S    PALACE. 


183 


left  him  standing  behind  the  pillar,  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  outer  hall.  There  Eurylochus  waited 
un*^^il  he  was  quite  w^eary,  and  listened  eagerly 
to  every  sound,  but  without  hearing  any  thing 
that  could  help  him  to  guess  what  had  become 
of  his  friends.  Footsteps,  it  is  true,  seemed  to 
be  passing  and  repassing,  in  other  parts  of  the 
palace.  Then  there  was  a  clatter  of  silver  dishes, 
or  golden  ones,  which  made  him  imagine  a  rich 
feast  in  a  splendid  banqueting  hall.  But  by  and 
by  he  heard  a  tremendous  grunting  and  squeal- 
ing, and  then  a  sudden  scampering,  like  that  of 
small,  hard  hoofs  over  a  marble  floor,  while  the 
voices  of  the  mistress  and  her  four  handmaidens 
were  screaming  all  together,  in  tones  of  anger 
and  derision.  Eurylochus  could  not  conceive 
what  had  happened,  unless  a  drove  of  swine  had 
broken  into  the  palace,  attracted  by  the  smell  of 
the  feast.  Chancing  to  cast  his  eyes  at  the 
fountain,  he  saw  that  it  did  not  shift  its  shape,  as 
formerly,  nor  looked  either  like  a  long-robed  man, 
or  a  lion,  a  tiger,  a  wolf,  or  an  ass.  It  looked  like 
nothing  but  a  hog,  which  lay  wallowing  in  the 
marble  basin,  and  filled  it  from  brim  to  brim. 
But  we  must  leave  the  prudent  Eurylochua 


184  circe's  palace. 

waiting  in  the  outer  hall,  and  follow  his  friends 
into  the  inner  secrecy  of  the  palace.  As  soon  as 
the  beautiful  woman  saw  them,  she  arose  from 
the  loom,  as  I  have  told  you,  and  came  forward, 
smiling,  and  stretching  out  her  hand.  She  took 
the  hand  of  the  foremost  among  them,  and  bade 
him  and  the  whole  party  welcome. 

"  You  have  been  long  expected,  my  good 
friends,"  said  she.  "  T  and  my  maidens  are 
well  acquainted  with  you,  although  you  do  not 
appear  to  recognize  us.  Look  at  this  piece  of 
tapestry,  and  judge  if  your  faces  must  not  have 
been  familiar  to  us." 

So  the  voyagers  examined  the  web  of  cloth 
which  the  beautiful  woman  had  been  weaving 
in  her  loom ;  and,  to  their  vast  astonishment, 
they  saw  their  own  figures  perfectly  represented 
in  different  colored  threads.  It  was  a  life-like 
picture  of  their  recent  adventures,  showing 
them  in  the  cave  of  Polyphemus,  and  how  they 
had  put  out  his  one  great  moony  eye  ;  while  in 
another  part  of  the  tapestry  they  were  untying 
the  leathern  bags,  puffed  out  with  contrary 
winds ;  and  farther  on,  they  beheld  themselvea 
scampering  awav  ^*om  the  gigantic  king  of  th'^ 


185- 


LoBstrygons,  who  had  caught  one  of  them  by  the 
leg.  Lastly,  there  they  were,  sitting  on  the  deso- 
late shore  of  this  very  island,  hungry  and  down- 
cast, and  looking  ruefully  at  the  bare  bones  of 
the  stag  which  they  devoured  yesterday.  This 
was  as  far  as  the  work  had  yet  proceeded  ;  but 
wmen  the  beautiful  w^oman  should  again  sit 
down  at  her  loom,  she  would  probably  make  a 
picture  of  what  had  since  happened  to  the  stran- 
gers, and  of  what  was  now  going  to  happen. 

"  You  see,"  she  said,  "  that  I  know  all  about 
your  troubles ;  and  you  cannot  doubt  that  I  de- 
sire to  make  you  happy  for  as  long  a  time  as 
you  may  remain  with  me.  For  this  purpose,  my 
honored  guests,  I  have  ordered  a  banquet  to  be 
prepared.  Fish,  fowl,  and  flesh,  roasted,  and  in 
luscious  stews,  and  seasoned,  I  trust,  to  all  your 
tastes,  are  ready  to  be  served  up.  If  your  appe- 
tites tell  you  it  is  dinner  time,  then  come  with 
me  to  the  festal  saloon." 

At  this  kind  invitation,  the  hungry  mariners 
were  quite  overjoyed;  and  one  of  them,  taking 
upon  himself  to  be  spokesman,  assured  their 
hospitable  hostess  that  any  hour  of  the  day  was 
dinner  time  with  them,  whenever  they  could  get 


186 


flesh  to  put  in  the  pot,  and  fire  to  boil  it  with. 
So  the  beautiful  woman  led  the  way ;  and  the 
four  maidens,  (one  of  them  had  sea-green  hair, 
another  a  bodice  of  oak  bark,  a  third  sprinkled  a 
shower  of  water  drops  from  her  fingers'  ends,  and 
the  fourth  had  some  other  oddity,  which  I  have 
forgotten,)  all  these  followed  behind,  and  hurried 
the  guests  along,  until  they  entered  a  magnifi- 
cent saloon.  It  was  built  in  a  perfect  oval,  and 
lighted  from  a  crystal  dome  above.  Around  the 
walls  were  ranged  two  and  twenty  thrones,  over- 
hung by  canopies  of  crimson  and  gold,  and  pro- 
vided with  the  softest  of  cushions,  which  were 
tasselled  and  fringed  with  gold  cord.  Each  of 
the  strangers  was  invited  to  sit  down  ;  and  there 
they  were,  two  and  twenty  storm-beaten  mari- 
ners, in  worn  and  tattered  garb,  sitting  on  two 
and  twenty  cushioned  and  canopied  thrones,  so 
rich  and  gorgeous  that  the  proudest  monarch 
had  nothing  more  splendid  in  his  stateliest  hall. 

Then  you  might  have  seen  the  guests  nodding, 
winking  with  one  eye,  and  leaning  from  one 
throne  to  another,  to  communicate  their  satis- 
faction in  hoarse  whispers. 

"  Our  good  hostess  has  made  kings  of  us  all," 


J 


187 


said  one.  "Ha!  do  you  smell  the  feast?  I'll 
engage  it  will  be  fit  to  set  before  two  and  twenty 
kings." 

"  I  hope,"  said  another,  "  it  will  be,  mainly, 
good  substantial  joints,  surloins,  spareribs,  and 
hinder  quarters,  without  too  many  kickshaws.  If 
I  thought  the  good  lady  would  not  take  it  amiss, 
I  should  call  for  a  fat  slice  of  fried  bacon  to 
begin  with." 

Ah,  the  gluttons  and  gormandizers  I  You  see 
how  it  was  with  them.  In  the  loftiest  seats  of 
dignity,  on  royal  thrones,  they  could  think  of 
nothing  but  their  greedy  appetite,  which  was  the 
portion  of  their  nature  that  they  shared  with 
wolves  and  swine ;  so  that  they  resembled  those 
vilest  of  animals  far  more  than  they  did  kings  — 
if,  indeed,  kings  were  what  they  ought  to  be. 

But  the  beautiful  woman  now  clapped  her 
hands ;  and  immediately  there  entered  a  train 
of  two  and  twenty  serving  men,  bringing  dishes 
of  the  richest  food,  all  hot  from  the  kitchen  fire, 
and  sending  up  such  a  steam  that  it  hung  like  a 
cloud  below  the  crystal  dome  of  the  saloon.  An 
equal  number  of  attendants  brought  great  flag- 
ons of  wine,  of  various   kinds,   some  of  which 


188 


sparkled  as  it  was  poured  out,  and  went  bub- 
bling down  the  throat ;  while,  of  other  sorts,  the 
purple  liquor  was  so  clear  that  you  could  see  the 
wrought  figures  at  the  bottom  of  the  goblet. 
While  the  servants  supplied  the  two  and  twenty- 
guests  with  food  and  drink,  the  hostess  and  her 
four  maidens  went  from  one  throne  to  another, 
exhorting  them  to  eat  their  fill,  and  to  quafi"  wine 
abundantly,  and  thus  to  recompense  themselves, 
at  this  one  banquet,  for  the  many  days  when 
they  had  gone  without  a  dinner.  But,  whenever 
the  mariners  were  not  looking  at  them,  (which 
was  pretty  often,  as  they  looked  chiefiy  into  the 
basins  and  platters,)  the  beautiful  woman  and 
her  damsels  turned  aside,  and  laughed.  Even 
the  servants,  as  they  knelt  down  to  present  the 
dishes,  might  be  seen  to  grin  and  sneer,  while 
the  guests  were  helping  themselves  to  the  offered 
dainties. 

And,  once  in  a  while,  the  strangers  seemed  to 
taste  something  that  they  did  not  like. 

"  Here  is  an  odd  kind  of  a  spice  in  this  dish," 
said  one.  "  I  can't  say  it  quite  suits  my  palate. 
Down  it  goes,  however." 

"  Send   a   good    draught    of  wine  down  your 


189 


throat,"  said  his  comrade  on  the  next  throne. 
"  That  is  the  stuff  to  make  this  sort  of  cookery 
relish  well.  Though  I  must  needs  say,  the  wine 
has  a  queer  taste  too.  But  the  more  I  drink  of 
it,  the  better  I  like  the  flavor." 

.Whatever  little  fault  they  might  find  with  the 
dishes,  they  sat  at  dinner  a  prodigiously  long 
while ;  and  it  would  really  have  made  you 
ashamed  to  see  how  they  swilled  down  the 
liquor  and  gobbled  up  the  food.  They  sat  on 
golden  thrones,  to  be  sure  ;  but  they  behaved 
like  pigs  in  a  sty;  and,  if  they  had  had  their 
wits  about  them,  they  might  have  guessed  that 
this  was  the  opinion  of  their  beautiful  hostess 
and  her  maidens.  It  brings  a  blush  into  my 
face  to  reckon  up,  in  my  own  mind,  what  moun- 
tains of  meat  and  pudding,  and  what  gallons 
of  wine,  these  two  and  twenty  guzzlers  and  gor- 
mandizers ate  and  drank.  They  forgot  all  about 
their  homes,  and  their  wives  and  children,  and 
all  about  Ulysses,  and  every  thing  else,  except  this 
banquet,  at  which  they  wanted  to  keep  feast- 
ing forever.  But  at  length  they  began  to  give 
over,  from  mere  incapacity  to  hold  any  more. 

"  That  last  bit  of  fat  is  too  much  for  me/* 
said  one. 


J  90 


*' And  1  have  not  room  for  another  morsel,' 
said  his  next  neighbor,  heaving  a  sigh.  "  What 
a  pity  I     My  appetite  is  as  sharp  as  ever." 

In  short,  they  all  left  off  eating,  and  leaned 
back  on  their  thrones,  with  such  a  stupid  and 
helpless  aspect  as  made  them  ridiculous  to  be- 
hold. When  their  hostess  saw  this,  she  laughed 
aloud ;  so  did  her  four  damsels ;  so  did  the  two  and 
twenty  serving  men  that  bore  the  dishes,  and  their 
two  and  twenty  fellows  that  poured  out  the  wine. 
And  the  louder  they  all  laughed,  the  more  stupid 
and  helpless  did  the  two  and  twenty  gormandizers 
look.  Then  the  beautiful  woman  took  her  stand 
in  the  middle  of  the  saloon,  and  stretching  out  a 
slender  rod,  (it  had  been  all  the  while  in  her  hand, 
although  they  never  noticed  it  till  this  moment,) 
she  turned  it  from  one  guest  to  another,  until 
each  had  felt  it  pointed  at  himself.  Beautiful 
as  her  face  was,  and  though  there  was  a  smile 
on  it,  it  looked  just  as  wicked  and  mischievous 
as  the  ugliest  serpent  that  ever  was  seen  ;  and 
fat-witted  as  the  voyagers  had  made  themselves, 
they  began  to  suspect  that  they  had  fallen  into 
the  power  of  an  evil-minded  enchantress. 

"  Wretches,"   cried   she,  "  you  have  abused  a 


Circe  and  the  Voyagers. 


p  191. 


Circe's  palace.  191 

lady's  hospitality;  and  in  this  princely  saloon 
your  behavior  has  been  suited  to  a  hogpen. 
You  are  already  swine  in  every  thing  but  the  hu- 
man form,  which  you  disgrace,  and  which  I  my- 
self should  be  ashamed  to  keep  a  moment  longer, 
were  you  to  share  it  with  me.  But  it  will  require 
only  the  slightest  exercise  of  magic  to  make  the 
exterior  conform  to  the  hoggish  disposition.  As- 
sume your  proper  shapes,  gormandizers,  and 
begone  to  the  sty ! " 

Uttering  these  last  words,  she  waved  her  wand ; 
and  stamping  her  foot  imperiously,  each  of  the 
guests  was  struck  aghast  at  beholding,  instead 
of  his  comrades  in  human  shape,  one  and  twenty 
hogs  sitting  on  the  same  number  of  golden 
thrones.  Each  man  (as  he  still  supposed  him- 
self to  be)  essayed  to  give  a  cry  of  surprise,  but 
found  that  he  could  merely  grunt,  and  that,  in  a 
word,  he  was  just  such  another  beast  as  his  com- 
panions. It  looked  so  intolerably  absurd  to  see 
hogs  on  cushioned  thrones,  that  they  made  haste 
to  wallow  down  upon  all  fours,  like  other  swine. 
They  tried  to  groan  and  beg  for  mercy,  but 
forthwith  emitted  the  most  awful  grunting  and 
squealing  that  ever  came  out  of  swinish  throats- 


192  circe's  palace. 

'They  would  have  wrung  their  hands  in  despair, 
but,  attempting  to  do  so,  grew  all  the  more 
desperate  for  seeing  themselves  squatted  on  their 
hams,  and  pawing  the  air  with  their  fore  trotters. 
Dear  me  I  what  pendulous  ears  they  had  I  what 
little  red  eyes,  half  buried  in  fat!  and  what  long 
snouts,  instead  of  Grecian  noses! 

But  brutes  as  they  certainly  were,  they  yet 
had  enough  of  human  nature  in  them  to  be 
shocked  at  their  own  hideousness  ;  and,  still  in- 
tending to  groan,  they  uttered  a  viler  grunt  and 
squeal  than  before.  So  harsh  and  ear-piercing 
it  was,  that  you  would  have  fancied  a  butcher 
was  sticking  his  knife  into  each  of  their  throats, 
or,  at  the  very  least,  that  somebody  was  pulling 
every  hog  by  his  funny  little  twist  of  a  tail. 

"  Begone  to  your  sty  ! "  cried  the  enchantress, 
giving  them  some  smart  strokes  with  her  wand ; 
and  then  she  turned  to  the  serving  men  —  "  Drive 
out  these  swine,  and  throw  down  some  acorns 
for  them  to  eat." 

The  door  of  the  saloon  being  flung  open,  the 
drove  of  hogs  ran  in  all  directions  save  the  right 
one,  in  accordance  with  their  hoggish  perversity, 
but  were  finally  driven  into  the  back  yard  of  the 


193 


palace.  It  was  a  sight  to  bring  tears  into  one's 
eyes,  (and  I  hope  none  of  you  will  be  cruel 
enough  to  laugh  at  it,)  to  see  the  poor  creatures 
go  snuffing  along,  picking  up  here  a  cabbage  leaf 
and  there  a  turnip  top,  and  rooting  their  noses 
in  the  earth  for  whatever  they  could  find.  In 
their  sty,  moreover,  they  behaved  more  piggishly 
than  the  pigs  that  had  been  born  so:  for  they 
bit  and  snorted  at  one  another,  put  their  feet  in 
the  trough,  and  gobbled  up  their  victuals  in  a 
ridiculous  hurry;  and,  when  there  was  nothing 
more  to  be  had,  they  made  a  great  pile  of  them- 
selves among  some  unclean  straw,  and  fell  fast 
asleep.  If  they  had  any  human  reason  left,  it 
was  just  enough  to  keep  them  wondering  \1^hen 
they  should  be  slaughtered,  and  what  quality  of 
bacon  they  should  make. 

Meantime,  as  I  told  you  "before,  Eurylochus 
had  waited,  and  waited,  and  waited,  in  the  en- 
trance hall  of  the  palace,  without  being  able  to 
comprehend  what  had  befallen  his  friends.  At 
last,  when  the  swinish  uproar  resounded  through 
the  palace,  and  when  he  saw  the  image  of  a  hog 
in  the  marble  basin,  he  thought  it  best  to  hasten 
back  to  the  vessel,  and  inform  the  wise  Ulysses 


194  tirce's  palace. 

of  these  marvellous  occurrences.  So  he  ran  as 
fast  as  he  could  down  the  steps,  and  never 
stopped  to  draw  breath  till  he  reached  the  shore. 

"  Why  do  you  come  alone  ? "  asked  King 
Ulysses,  as  soon  as  he  saw  him.  "  Where  are 
your  two  and  twenty  comrades  ?  " 

At  these  questions,  Eurylochus  burst  into 
tears. 

"  Alas  I "  cried  he,  "  I  greatly  fear  that  we  shall 
never  see  one  of  their  faces  again.'* 

Then  he  told  Ulysses  all  that  had  happened,  as 
far  as  he  knew  it,  and  added  that  he  suspected  the 
beautiful  woman  to  be  a  vile  enchantress,  and 
the  marble  palace,  magnificent  as  it  looked,  to 
be  only  a  dismal  cavern  in  reality.  As  for  his 
companions,  he  could  not  imagine  what  had 
become  of  them,  unless  they  had  been  given  to 
the  swine  to  be  devoured  alive.  At  this  intelli- 
gence, all  the  voyagers  were  greatly  affrighted. 
But  Ulysses  lost  no  time  in  girding  on  his 
sword,  and  hanging  his  bow  and  quiver  over  his 
shoulders,  and  taking  a  spear  in  his  right  hand. 
When  his  followers  saw  their  wise  leader  mak- 
ing ihese  |)reparaiions,  they  inquired  whither  he 
was  going,  and  earnestly  besought  liiiii  not  to 
leave  them. 


195 


"You  are  our  king,"  cried  they;  ^' and  what 
is  more,  you  are  the  wisest  man  in  the  whole 
world,  and  nothing  but  your  wisdom  and  courage 
can  get  us  out  of  this  danger.  If  you  desert  us, 
and  go  to  the  enchanted  palace,  you  will  suffer 
the  same  fate  as  our  poor  companions,  and  not  a 
soul  of  us  will  ever  see  our  dear  Ithaca  again." 

"  As  I  am  your  king,"  answered  Ulysses, "  and 
wiser  than  any  of  you,  it  is  therefore  the  more 
my  duty  to  see  what  has  befallen  our  comrades, 
and  whether  any  thing  can  yet  be  done  to  rescue 
them.  Wait  for  me  here  until  to-morrow.  If  I 
do  not  then  return,  you  must  hoist  sail,  and  en- 
deavor to  find  your  way  to  our  native  land.  For 
my  part,  I  am  answerable  for  the  fate  of  these 
poor  mariners,  who  have  stood  by  my  side  in 
battle,  and  been  so  often  drenched  to  the  skin, 
along  with  me,  by  the  same  tempestuous  surges. 
I  will  either  br'ng  them  back  with  me,  or 
perish." 

Had  his  followers  dared,  they  would  have 
detained  him  by  force.  But  King  Ulysses 
frowned  sternly  on  them,  and  shook  his  spear, 
and  bade  them  stop  him  at  their  peril.  Seeing 
him   so    determined,  they   let  him   go,   and  sat 


196 


down  on  the  sand,  as  disconsolate  a  set  of  peo 
pie    as  could    be,  waiting  and  praying  for    his 
return. 

It  happened  to  Ulysses,  just  as  beforCj  that, 
when  he  had  gone  a  few  steps  from  the  edge  of 
the  clifF,  the  purple  bird  came  fluttering  towards 
him,  crying,  "  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep  I "  and  using 
all  the  art  it  could  to  persuade  him  to  go  no 
farther. 

"  What  mean  you,  little  bird  ?  "  cried  Ulysses, 
"  You  are  arrayed  like  a  king  in  purple  and  gold, 
and  wear  a  golden  crown  upon  your  head.  Is  it 
because  I  too  am  a  king,  that  you  desire  so  ear- 
nestly to  speak  with  me  ?  If  you  can  talk  in 
human  language,  say  what  you  would  have 
me  do." 

"  Peep !  "  answered  the  purple  bird,  very  dolo- 
rously.    "  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  we  —  ep  !  " 

Certainly  there  lay  some  heavy  anguish  at  the 
little  bird's  heart ;  and  it  was  a  sorrowful  pre- 
dicament that  he  could  not,  at  least,  have  the 
consolation  of  telling  what  it  was.  But  Ulysses 
had  no  time  to  waste  in  trying  to  get  at  the  mys- 
tery. He  therefore  quickened  his  pace,  and  had 
gone  a  good  way  along  the  pleasant  wood  path, 


197 


when  there  met  him  a  young  man  of  very  brisk 
and  intelligent  aspect,  and  clad  in  a  rather  lin- 
gular garb.  He  wore  a  short  cloak,  and  a  sort 
of  cap  that  seemed  to  be  furnished  with  a  pair 
of  wings  ;  and  from  the  lightness  of  his  step, 
you  would  have  supposed  that  there  might  like- 
wise be  wings  on  his  feet.  To  enable  him  to 
walk  still  better,  (for  he  was  always  on  one  jour- 
ney or  another,)  he  carried  a  winged  staff,  around 
which  two  serpents  were  wriggling  and  twisting. 
In  short,  I  have  said  enough  to  make  you  guess 
that  it  was  Quicksilver;  and  Ulysses  (who  knew 
him  of  old,  and  had  learned  a  gi'eat  deal  of  his 
wisdom  from  him)  recognized  him  in  a  moment. 

"  Whither  are  you  going  in  such  a  hurry,  wise 
Ulysses  ? "  asked  Quicksilver.  "  Do  you  not  know 
that  this  island  is  enchanted  ?  The  wicked  en- 
chantress (whose  name  is  Circe,  the  sister  of  King 
^etes)  dwells  in  the  marble  palace  which  you 
see  yonder  among  the  trees.  By  her  magic  arts, 
she  changes  every  human  being  into  the  brute 
beast  or  fowl  whom  he  happens  most  to  re- 
semble." 

"  That  little  bird,  which  met  me  at  the  edgo 
of  the  cliff,"  exclaimed  Ulysses ;  "  was  he  a 
human  being  once  ?  " 


198  CIKCf/j?     PALACi:. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Quicksilver.  "  He  was  once 
a  king,  named  Pious,  and  a  pretty  good  sort  of  a 
king  too,  only  rather  too  proud  of  his  purple 
robe,  and  his  crown,  and  the  golden  chain  about 
his  neck ;  so  he  w^as  forced  to  take  the  shape  of 
a  gaudy-feathered  bird.  The  lions,  and  wolves, 
and  tigers,  who  will  come  running'  to  meet  you, 
in  front  of  the  palace,  were  formerly  fierce  and 
cruel  men,  resembling  in  their  dispositions  the 
wild  beasts  whose  forms  they  now  rightfully 
wear." 

"  And  my  poor  companions,"  said  Ulysses. 
*'  Have  they  undergone  a  similar  change,  through 
the  arts  of  this  wicked  Circe  ?  " 

"  You  well  know  what  gormandizers  they 
were,"  replied  Quicksilver ;  and  rogue  that  he 
was,  he  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  joke. 
"  So  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  they 
have  all  taken  the  shapes  of  swine!  If  Circe 
had  never  done  any  thing  worse,  I  really  should 
not  think  her  so  very  much  to  blame." 

"  But  can  I  do  nothing  to  help  them  ? "  in- 
quired Ulysses. 

"  It  will  require  all  your  wisdom,"  said  Quick- 
Bilver,  "and  a  little  of  my  own  into  the  bargain, 


circe's  palace.  199 

to  keep  your  royal  and  sagacious  self  from  being 
transformed  into  a  fox.  But  do  as  I  bid  you ; 
and  the  matter  may  end  better  than  -it  has 
begun." 

While  he  was  speaking,  Quicksilver  seemed 
to  be  in  search  of  something ;  he  went  stooping 
along  the  ground,  and  soon  laid  his  hand  on  a 
little  plant  with  a  snow-white  flower,  which  he 
plucked  and  smelt  of.  Ulysses  had  been  look- 
ing at  that  very  spot  only  just  before  ;  and  it 
appeared  to  him  that  the  plant  had  burst  into 
full  flower  the  instant  when  Quicksilver  touched 
it  with  his  fingers. 

"  Take  this  flower,  King  Ulysses,"  said  he 
"  Guard  it  as  you  do  your  eyesight ;  for  I  can 
assure  you  it  is  exceedingly  rare  and  precious, 
and  you  might  seek  the  whole  earth  over  with- 
out ever  finding  another  like  it.  Keep  it  in  your 
hand,  and  smell  of  it  frequently  after  you  enter 
the  palace,  and  while  you  are  talking  with  the 
enchantress.  Especially  when  she  offers  you 
food,  or  a  draught  of  wine  out  of  her  goblet,  be 
careful  to  fill  your  nostrils  with  the  flower's  fra- 
grance. Follow  these  directions,  and  you  may 
defy  her  magic  arts  to  change  you  into  a  fox." 


200  circe's  palace. 

■  Quicksilver  then  gave  him  some  further  advice 
how  to  behave,  and  bidding  him  be  bold  and 
prudent,  again  assured  him  that,  powerful  as 
Circe  was,  he  would  have  a  fair  prospect  of 
coming  safely  out  of  her  enchanted  palace.  Af- 
ter listening  attentively,  Ulysses  thanked  his 
good  friend,  and  resumed  his  way.  But  he  had 
taken  only  a  few  steps,  when,  recollecting  some 
other  questions  which  he  wished  to  ask,  he  turned 
round  again,  and  beheld  nobody  on  the  spot 
where  Quicksilver  had  stood  ;  for  that  winged 
cap  of  his,  and  those  winged  shoes,  with  the  help 
of  the  winged  staff",  had  carried  him  quickly  out 
of  sight. 

When  Ulysses  reached  the  lawn,  in  front  of 
the  palace,  the  lions  and  other  savage  animals 
came  bounding  to  meet  him,  and  would  have 
fawned  upon  him  and  licked  his  feet.  But  the 
wise  king  struck  at  them  with  his  long  spear, 
and  sternly  bade  them  begone  out  of  his  path  ; 
for  he  knew  that  they  had  once  been  bloodthirsty 
men,  and  would  now  tear  him  limb  from  limb, 
instead  of  fawning  upon  him,  could  they  do  the 
mischief  that  was  in  their  hearts.  The  wild 
beasts    yelped    and    glared    at    him,  and    stood 


circe's  palace.  201 

at   a   distance,   while    he   ascended    the    palace 
steps. 

On  entering  the  hall,  Ulysses  saw  the  magic 
fountain  in  the  centre  of  it.  The  up-gushing 
water  had  now  again  taken  the  shape  of  a  man 
in  a  long,  white,  fleecy  robe,  who  appeared  to  be 
making  gestures  of  welcome.  The  king  like- 
wise heard  the  noise  of  the  shuttle  in  the  loom, 
and  the  sweet  melody  of  the  beautiful  woman's 
song,  and  then  the  pleasant  voices  of  herself  and 
the  four  maidens  talking  together,  with  peals  of 
merry  laughter  intermixed.  But  Ulysses  did  not 
v/aste  much  time  in  listening  to  the  laughter  or 
the  song.  He  leaned  his  spear  against  one  of  the 
pillars  of  the°  hall,  and  then,  after  loosening  his 
sword  in  the  scabbard,  stepped  boldly  forward, 
and  threw  the  folding  doors  wide  open.  The 
moment  she  beheld  his  stately  figure  standing 
in  the  doorway,  the  beautiful  woman  rose  from 
the  loom,  and  ran  to  meet  him  with  a  glad  smile 
throwing  its  sunshine  over  her  face,  and  both  her 
hands  extended. 

"  Welcome,  brave  stranger  I  "  cried  she.  "  We 
were  expecting  you." 

And  the  nymph  with  the  sea-green  hai_  made 


202  CIRCE  S    PALACE. 

a  courtesy  down  to  the  ground,  and  likewise 
bade  him  welcome ;  so  did  her  sister  with  the 
bodice  of  oaken  bark,  and  she  that  sprinkled  dew- 
drops  from  her  fingers'  ends,  and  the  fourth  one 
with  some  oddity  which  I  cannot  remember. 
And  Circe,  as  the  beautiful  enchantress  was 
called,  (who  had  deluded  so  many  persons  that 
she  did  not  doubt  of  being  able  to  delude  Ulys- 
ses, not  imagining  how  wise  he  was,)  again 
addressed  him :  — 

"  Your  companions,"  said  she,  "  have  already 
been  received  into  my  palace,  and  have  enjoyed 
the  hospitable  treatment  to  which  the  propriety 
of  their  behavior  so  well  entitles  them.  If  such 
be  your  pleasure,  you  shall  first  take  some  refresh- 
ment, and  then  join  them  in  the  elegant  apart- 
ment which  they  now  occupy.  See,  I  and  my 
maidens  have  been  weaving  their  figures  ijito 
this  piece  of  tapestry." 

She  pointed  to  the  web  of  beautifully-woven 
cloth  in  the  loom.  Circe  and  the  four  nymphs 
must  have  been  very  diligently  at  work  since  ihe 
arrival  of  the  mariners  ;  for  a  great  many  yards 
of  tapestry  had  now  been  wrought,  in  addition 
to  what   I  before  described.     In   this  new  part, 


203 


Ulysses  saw  his  two  and  twenty  friends  rep- 
resented as  sitting  on  cushioned  and  canopied 
thrones,  greedily  devouring  dainties,  and  quaffing 
deep  draughts  of  wine.  The  work  had  not  yet 
gone  any  further.  O,  no,  indeed.  The  enchan- 
tress was  far  too  cunning  to  let  Ulysses  see  the 
mischief  which  her  magic  arts  had  since  brought 
upon  the  gormandizers. 

"  As  for  yourself,  valiant  sir,"  said  Circe, 
"  judging  by  the  dignity  of  your  aspect,  I  take 
you  to  be  nothing  less  than  a  king.  Deign  to 
follow  me,  and  you  shall  be  treated  as  befits 
your  rank." 

So  Ulysses  followed  her  into  the  oval  saloon 
where  his  two  and  twenty  comrades  had  de- 
voured the  banquet,  which  ended  so  disastrously 
for  themselves.  Bat,  all  this  while,  he  had  held 
the  snow-white  flower  in  his  hand,  and  had  con- 
stantly smelt  of  it  while  Circe  was  speaking ; 
and  as  he  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  saloon,  he 
took  good  care  to  inhale  several  long  and  deep 
snufls  of  its  fragrance.  Instead  of  two  and 
twenty  thrones,  which  had  before  been  ranged 
around  the  wall,  there  was  now  only  a  single 
throne,  in  the  centre  of  the  apartment.     But  this 


204  circe's  palace. 

was  surely  the  most  magnificent  seat  that  ever  a 
king  or  an  emperor  reposed  himself  upon,  all  made 
of  chased  gold,  studded  with  precious  stones, 
with  a  cushion  that  looked  like  a  soft  heap  of 
Jiving  roses,  and  overhung  by  a  canopy  of  sun- 
light which  Circe  knew  how  to  weave  into 
drapery.  The  enchantress  took  Ulysses  by  the 
hand,  and  made  him  sit  down  upon  this  daz- 
zling throne.  Then,  clapping  her  hands,  she 
summoned  the  chief  butler. 

"  Bring  hither,"  said  she,  "  the  goblet  that  is 
set  apart  for  kings  to  drink  out  of.  And  fill  it 
with  the  same  delicious  wine  which  my  royal 
brother.  King  ^etes  praised  so  highly,  when  he 
last  visited  me  with  my  fair  daughter  Medea. 
That  good  and  amiable  child!  Were  she  now 
here,  it  would  delight  her  to  see  me  offering  this 
wine  to  my  honored  guest." 

But  Ulysses,  while  the  butler  was  gone  for  the 
wine,  held  the  snow-white  flower  to  his  nose. 

"  Is  it  a  wholesome  wine  ?  "  he  asked. 

At  this  the  four  maidens  tittered ;  whereupon 
the  enchantress  looked  round  at  them,  with  an 
aspect  of  severity. 

"  It  is  the  wholesomest   juice   that  ever  was 


circe's  palace.  205 

squeezed  out  of  the  grape,"  said  she ;  "  for,  in- 
stead of  disguising  a  man,  as  other  liquor  is  apt 
to  do,  it  brings  him  to  his  true  self,  and  shows 
him  as  he  ought  to  be." 

The  chief  butler  liked  nothing  better  than  to 
see  people  turned  into  swine,  or  making  any- 
kind  of  a  beast  of  themselves  ;  so  he  made  haste 
to  bring  the  royal  goblet,  filled  with  a  liquid  as 
bright  as  gold,  and  which  kept  sparkling  upward, 
and  throwing  a  sunny  spray  over  the  brim.  But, 
delightfully  as  the  wine  looked,  it  was  mingled 
with  the  most  potent  enchantments  that  Circe 
knew  how  to  concoct.  For  every  drop  of  the 
pure  grape  juice  there  were  two  drops  of  the 
pure  mischief;  and  the  danger  of  the  thing  was, 
that  the  mischief  made  it  taste  all  the  better. 
The  mere  smell  of  the  bubbles,  which  effervesced 
at  the  brim,  was  enough  to  turn  a  man's  beard 
into  pig's  bristles,  or  make  a  lion's  claws  grow 
out  of  his  fingers,  or  a  fox's  brush  behind  him. 

"Drink,  my  noble  guest,"  said  Circe,  smiling 
as  she  presented  him  with  the  goblet.  "  You 
will  find  in  this  draught  a  solace  for  all  your 
troubles." 

King  Ulysses  took  the  goblet  with   his  right 


206 


CIRCE'S    PALACE. 


hand,  while  with  his  left  he  held  the  snow-white 
flower  to  his  nostrils,  and  drew  in  so  long  a 
breath  that  his  lungs  were  quite  filled  with  its 
pure  and  simple  fragrance.  Then,  drinking  off 
all  the  wine,  he  looked  the  enchantress  calr.ily 
in  the  face. 

"  Wretch,"  cried  Circe,  giving  him  a  smart 
stroke  with  her  wand,  "  how  dare  you  keep  your 
human  shape  a  moment  longer?  .Take  the 
form  of  the  brute  whom  you  most  resemble.  If 
a  hog,  go  join  your  fellow-swine  in  the  sty;  if  a 
lion,  a  wolf,  a  tiger,  go  howl  with  the  wild  beasts 
on  the  lawn  ;  if  a  fox,  go  exercise  your  craft  in 
stealing  poultry.  Thou  hast  quaffed  off  my 
wine,  and  canst  be  man  no  longer." 

But,  such  was  the  virtue  of  the  snow-white 
flower,  instead  of  wallowing  down  from  his 
throne  in  swinish  shape,  or  taking  any  other 
brutal  form,  Ulysses  looked  even  more  manly 
and  king-like  than  before.  He  gave  the  magic 
goblet  a  toss,  and  sent  it  clashing  over  the  mar- 
ble floor,  to  the  farthest  end  of  the  saloon. 
Then,  drawing  his  sword,  he  seized  the  enchan- 
tress by  her  beautiful  ringlets,  and  made  a  ges- 
ture as  if  he  meant  to  strike  off  her  head  at 
one  blow. 


207 

"  Wicked  Circe,"  cried  he,  in  a  terrible  voice, 
"  this  sword  shall  put  an  end  to  thy  enchant- 
ments. Thou  shalt  die,  vile  witch,  and  do  no 
more  mischief  in  the  world,  by  tempting  human 
beings  into  the  vices  which  make  beasts  of 
them." 

The  tone  and  countenance  of  Ulysses  were  so 
awful,  and  his  sword  gleamed  so  brightly,  and 
seemed  to  have  so  intolerably  keen  an  edge,  that 
Circe  was  almost  killed  by  the  mere  fright,  with- 
out waiting  for  a  blow.  The  chief  butler  scram- 
bled out  of  the  saloon,  picking  up  the  golden 
goblet  as  he  went ;  and  the  enchantress  and  the 
four  maidens  fell  on  their  knees,  wringing  their 
hands,  and  screaming  for  mercy. 

"  Spare  me !  "  cried  Circe.  "  Spare  me,  royal 
and  wise  Ulysses.  For  now  I  know  that  thou 
art  he  of  whom  Quicksilver  forewarned  me,  the 
most  prudent  of  mortals,  against  whom  no  en- 
chantments can  prevail.  Thou  only  couldst 
have  conquered  Circe.  Spare  me,  wisest  of 
men.  I  will  show  thee  true  hospitality,  and 
even  give  myself  to  be  thy  slave,  and  this  mag- 
nificent palace  to  be  henceforth  thy  home." 

The  four  nymphs,  meanwhile,  were  making  a 


208 


most  piteous  ado ;  and  especially  the  ocean 
nymphj  with  the  sea-green  hair,  wept  a  great 
deal  of  salt  water,  and  the  fountain  nymph,  be- 
sides scattering  dewdrops  from  her  fingers'  ends, 
nearly  melted  away  into  tears.  But  Ulysses 
would  not  be  pacified  until  Circe  had  taken  a 
solemn  oath  to  change  back  his  companions, 
and  as  many  others  as  he  should  direct,  from 
their  present  forms  of  beast  or  bird  into  their 
former  shapes  of  men. 

"  On  these  conditions,"  said  he,  "  I  consent  to 
spare  your  life.  Otherwise  you  must  die  upon 
the  spot." 

With  a  drawn  sword  hanging  over  her,  the  en- 
chantress would  readily  have  consented  to  do  as 
much  good  as  she  had  hitherto  done  mischief, 
however  little  she  might  like  such  employment. 
She  therefore  led  Ulysses  out  of  the  back  en- 
trance of  the  palace,  and  showed  him  the  swine 
in  their  sty.  There  were  about  fifty  of  these 
unclean  beasts  in  the  whole  herd;  and  though 
the  greater  part  were  hogs  by  birth  and  educa- 
tion, there  was  wonderfully  little  diflerence  to  be 
seen  betwixt  them  and  their  new  brethren,  who 
had  so  recently  worn   the   human  shape.      To 


209 


speak  critically,  indeed,  the  latter  rather  carried 
the  thing  to  excess,  and  seemed  to  make  it  a 
point  to  wallow  in  the  miriest  part  of  the  sty, 
and  otherwise  to  outdo  the  original  swine  in 
their  own  natural  vocation.  When  men  once 
turn  to  brutes,  the  trifle  of  man's  wit  that  remains 
in  them  adds  tenfold  to  their  brutality. 

The  comrades  of  Ulysses,  however,  had  not 
quite  lost  the  remembrance  of  having  formerly 
stood  erect.  When  he  approached  the  sty,  two 
and  twenty  enormous  swine  separated  them- 
selves from  the  herd,  and  scampered  towards 
him,  with  such  a  chorus  of  horrible  squealing  as 
made  him  clap  both  hands  to  his  ears.  And  yet 
they  did  not  seem  to  knaw  what  they  wanted, 
nor  whether  they  were  merely  hungry,  or  misera- 
ble from  some  other  cause.  It  was  curious,  in 
the  midst  of  their  distress,  to  observe  them  thrust- 
ing their  noses  into  the  mire,  in  quest  of  some- 
thing to  eat.  The  nymph  with  the  bodice  of 
oaken  bark  (she  was  the  hamadryad  of  an  oak) 
threw  a  handful  of  acorns  among  them  ;  and  the 
two  and  twenty  hogs  scrambled  and  fought  for 
the  prize,  as  if  they  had  tasted  not  so  much  as  a 
noggin  of  sour  milk  for  a  twelvemonth. 
14 


210  clrce's   PALACK. 

"  These  must  certainly  be  my  comrades,"  said 
Ulysses.  "  I  recognize  their  dispositions.  They 
are  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of  changing  them 
into  the  human  form  again.  Nevertheless,  we 
will  have  it  done,  lest  their  bad  example  should 
corrupt  the  other  hogs.  Let  them  take  their 
original  shapes,  therefore,  Dame  Circe,  if  your 
skill  is  equal  to  the  task.  It  will  require  greater 
magic,  I  trow,  than  it  did  to  make  swine  of 
them." 

So  Circe  waved  her  wand  again,  and  repeated 
a  few  magic  words,  at  the  sound  of  which  the 
two  and  twenty  hogs  pricked  up  their  pendulous 
ears.  It  was  a  wonder  to  behold  how  their 
snouts  grew  shorter  and  shorter,  and  their 
mouths  (which  they  seemed  to  be  sorry  for,  be- 
cause they  could  not  gobble  so  expeditiously) 
smaller  and  smaller,  and  how  one  and  another 
began  to  stand  upon  his  hind  legs,  and  scratch 
his  nose  with  his  fore  trotters.  At  first  the  spec- 
tators hardly  knew  whether  to  call  them  hogs 
or  men,  but  by  and  by  canie  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  rather  resembled  the  latter.  Finally, 
there  stood  the  twenty-two  comrades  of  Ulysses, 
looking  pretty  much  the  same  as  when  they  left 
the  vessel. 


211 


You  must  not  imagine,  however,  that  the 
swinish  quality  had  entirely  gone  out  of  them. 
When  once  it  fastens  itself  into  a  person's 
character,  it  is  very  difficult  getting  rid  of  it. 
This  was  proved  by  the  hamadryad,  who,  being 
exceedingly  fond  of  mischief,  threw  another 
handful  of  acorns  before  the  twenty-two  newly- 
restored  people  ;  whereupon  down  they  wal- 
lowed, in  a  moment,  and  gobbled  them  up  in  a 
very  shameful  way.  Then,  recollecting  them- 
selves, they  scrambled  to  their  feet,  and  looked 
more  than   commonly  foolish. 

"  Thanks,  noble  Ulysses!"  they  cried.     "From 
brute    beasts  you  have   restored  us  to  the  con 
dition  of  men  again." 

"  Do  not  put  yourselves  to  the  trouble  of 
thanking  me,"  said  the  wise  king.  "  I  fear  I 
have  done  but  little  for  you." 

To  say  the  truth,  there  was  a  suspicious  kind 
of  a  grunt  in  their  voices,  and,  for  a  long  time 
afterwards,  they  spoke  gruffly,  and  were  apt  to 
set  up   a  squeal. 

"  It  must  depend  on  your  own  future  beha- 
vior," added  Ulysses,  "  whether  you  do  not  find 
your  way  back  to  the  sty." 


212 


At  this  moment,  the  note  of  a  bird  sounded 
from  the  branch   of  a   neighboring  tree. 

"  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  wee  —  ep  I  " 

It  was  the  purple  bird,  who,  all  this  while,  had 
been  sitting  over  their  heads,  watching  what  was 
going  forward,  and  hoping  that  Ulysses  would 
remember  how  he  had  done  his  utmost  to  keep 
him  and  his  followers  out  of  harm's  way.  Ulys- 
ses ordered  Circe  instantly  to  make  a  king  of 
this  good  little  fowl,  and  leave  him  exactly  as  she 
found  him.  Hardly  were  the  words  spoken,  and 
before  the  bird  had  time  to  utter  another  *'  pe  — 
weep,"  King  Picus  leaped  down  from  the  bough 
of  the  tree,  as  majestic  a  sovereign  as  any  in 
the  world,  dressed  in  a  long  purple  robe  and 
gorgeous  yellow  stockings,  with  a  splendidly 
wrought  collar  about  his  neck,  and  a  golden 
crown  upon  his  head.  He  and  King  Ulysses 
exchanged  with  one  another  the  courtesies  which 
belong  to  their  elevated  rank.  But  from  that 
time  forth.  King  Picus  was  no  longer  proud  of 
his  crown  and  his  trappings  of  royalty,  nor  of 
the  fact  of  his  being  a  kiig;  he  felt  himself 
merely  the  upper  servant  of  his  people,  and  that 
't  must  be  his  life-Ions:  labor  to  make  them 
:)etter  and   happier. 


213 


As  for  the  lions,  tigers,  and  wolves,  (though 
Circe  would  have  restored  them  to  their  former 
shapes  at  his  slightest  word,)  Ulysses  thought 
it  advisable  that  they  should  remain  as  they 
now  were,  and  thus  give  warning  of  their  cruel 
dispositions,  instead  of  going  about  under  the 
guise  of  men,  and  pretending  to  human  sympa- 
thies, while  their  hearts  had  the  bloodthirstiness 
of  wild  beasts.  So  he  let  them  howl  as  much 
as  they  liked,  but  never  troubled  his  head  about 
them.  x\nd,  when  every  thing  was  settled  ac- 
cording to  his  pleasure,  he  sent  to  summon  the 
remainder  of  his  comrades,  whom  he  had  left  at 
the  sea  shore.  These  being  arrived,  with  the 
prudent  Eurylochus  at  their  head,  they  all  made 
themselves  comfortable  in  Circe's  enchanted 
palace,  until  quite  rested  and  refreshed  from  the 
toils  and  hardships  of  their  voyage. 


214  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 


THE   POMEGEANATE   SEEDS. 


Mother  Ceres  was  exceedingly  fond  of  her 
daughter  Proserpina,  and  seldom  let  her  go  alone 
into  the  fields.  But,  just  at  the  time  when  my 
story  begins,  the  good  lady  was  very  busy,  be- 
cause she  had  the  care  of  the  wheat,  and  the 
Indian  corn,  and  the  rye  and  barley,  and,  in  short, 
of  the  crops  of  every  kind,  all  over  the  earth ; 
and  as  the  season  had  thus  far  been  uncommon- 
ly backward,  it  was  necessary  to  make  the  har- 
vest ripen  more  speedily  than  usual.  So  she  put 
on  her  turban,  made  of  poppies,  (a  kind  of 
flower  which  she  was  always  noted  for  wear- 
ing,) and  got  into  her  car  drawn  by  a  pair  of 
winged  dragons,  and  was  just  ready  to  set  off. 

"  Dear  mother,"  said  Proserpina,  "  I  shall  be 
very  lonely  while  you  are  away.  May  I  not  run 
down   to   the  shore,   and   ask   some    of  Ihe   sea 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  215 

nymphs  to  come  up  out  of  the  waves  and  play 
with  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,  child,"  answered  Mother  Ceres.  "  The 
sea  nymphs  are  good  creatures,  and  w4Il  never 
lead  you  into  any  harm.  But  you  must  take 
care  not  to  stray  away  from  them,  nor  go  wander- 
ing about  the  fields  by  yourself.  Young  girls, 
without  their  mothers  to  take  care  of  them,  are 
very  apt  to  get  into  mischief." 

The  child  promised  to  be  as  prudent  as  if  she 
were  a  grown-up  woman  ;  and,  by  the  time  the 
winged  dragons  had  whirled  the  car  out  of  sight, 
she  was  already  on  the  shore,  calling  to  the  sea 
nymphs  to  come  and  play  with  her.  They  knew 
Proserpina's  voice,  and  were  not  long  in  showing 
their  glistening  faces  and  sea-green  hair  above 
the  water,  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  their 
home.  They  brought  along  with  them  a  great 
many  beautiful  shells  ;  and  sitting  down  on  the 
moist  sand,  where  the  surf  wave  broke  over  them, 
they  busied  themselves  in  making  a  necklace, 
Avhich  they  hung  round  Proserpina's  neck.  By 
way  of  showing  her  gratitude,  the  child  be- 
sought them,  to  go  with  her  a  little  way  into 
the  fields,  so  that  they  might  gather  abundance 


216  THE    POMEGRANATi:    SEEDS. 

of  flowers,  with  which  she  would  make  each  of 
her  kind  playmates  a  wreath. 

"  O,  no,  dear  Proserpina,"  cried  the  sea  nymphs; 
"  we  dare  not  go  with  you  upon  the  dry  land. 
"We  are  apt  to  grow  faint,  unless  at  every  breath 
we  can  snuff  up  the  salt  breeze  of  the  ocean. 
And  don't  you  see  how  careful  we  are  to  let  the 
surf  wave  break  over  us  every  moment  or  two, 
so  as  to  keep  ourselves  comfortably  moist?  If 
it  were  not  for  that,  we  should  soon  look  like 
bunches  of  uprooted  seaweed  dried  in  the  sun." 

"  It  is  a  great  pity,"  said  Proserpina.  "  But 
do  you  wait  for  me  here,  and  I  will  run  and 
gather  my  apron  full  of  flowers,  and  be  back 
again  before  the  surf  wave  has  broken  ten  times 
over  you.  I  long  to  make  you  some  wreaths 
that  shall  be  as  lovely  as  this  necklace  of  many- 
colored  shells." 

<'  We  will  wait,  then,"  answered  the  sea 
nymphs.  "  But,  while  you  are  gone,  we  may  as 
well  lie  down  on  a  bank  of  soft  sponge,  under 
the  water.  The  air  to-day  is  a  little  too  dry  for 
our  comfort.  But  we  will  pop  up  our  heads 
every  few  miiuitcs  to  sec  if  you   are  coming." 

The  young  Proserpina  ran   (jiiickly  to   a  spot, 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  217 

where,  only  the  day  before,  she  had  seen  a  great 
many  flowers.  These,  however,  were  now  a 
little  past  their  bloom  ;  and  wishing  to  give  her 
friends  the  freshest  and  loveliest  blossoms,  she 
strayed  farther  into  the  fields,  and  found  some 
that  made  her  scream  with  delight.  Never  had 
she  met  with  such  exquisite  flowers  before  — 
violets  so  large  and  fragrant  —  roses,  with  so  rich 
and  delicate  a  blush  —  such  superb  hyacinths 
and  such  aromatic  pinks  —  and  many  others, 
some  of  which  seemed  to  be  of  new  shapes  and 
colors.  Two  or  three  times,  moreover,  she  could 
not  help  thinking  that  a  tuft  of  most  splendid 
flowers  had  suddenly  sprouted  out  of  the  earth 
before  her  very  eyes,  as  if  on  purpose  to  tempt 
her  a  few  steps  farther.  Proserpina's  apron  was 
soon  filled  and  brimming  over  with  delightful 
blossoms.  She  was  on  the  point  of  turning 
back  in  order  to  rejoin  the  sea  nymphs,  and 
sit  with  them  on  the  moist  sands,  all  twining 
wreaths  together.  But,  a  little  farther  on,  what 
should  she  behold  ?  It  was  a  large  shrub,  com- 
pletely covered  with  the  most  magnificent  flow- 
ers in  the  world. 

"  The  darlings  I "  cried   Proserpina  ;  and  then 


218  THE    PO."\IEGRA\ATE    SEEDS. 

she  thought  to  herself,  "  I  was  looking  at  that 
spot  only  a  moment  ago.  How  strange  it  in 
that  I  did  not  see  the  flowers!" 

The  nearer  she  approached  the  shrub,  the 
more  attractive  it  looked,  until  she  came  quite 
close  to  it ;  and  then,  although  its  beauty  was 
richer  than  words  can  tell,  she  hardly  knew 
whether  to  like  it  or  not.  It  bore  above  a  hun- 
dred flowers  of  the  most  brilliant  hues,  and  each 
different  from  the  others,  but  all  having  a  kind 
of  resemblance  among  themselves,  which  showed 
them  to  be  sister  blossoms.  But  there  was  a 
deep,  glossy  lustre  on  the  leaves  of  the  shrub, 
and  on  the  petals  of  the  flowers,  that  made  Pro- 
serpina doubt  whether  they  might  not  be  poison- 
ous. To  tell  you  the  truth,  foolish  as  it  may 
seem,  she  was  half  inclined  to  turn  round  and 
run  away. 

"  What  a  silly  child  I  am  I "  thought  she,  tak- 
ing courage.  "It  is  really  the  most  beautiful 
shrub  that  ever  sprang  out  of  the  earth.  I  will 
pull  it  up  by  the  roots,  and  carry  it  home,  and 
plant  it  in  my  mother's  garden." 

Holding  up  her  apron  full  of  flowers  with  hei 
left  hand,  Proserpina  seized  the  large  shrub  with 


THE    POAIEGUANATE    SEEDS.  219 

the  other,  and  pulled,  and  pulled,  but  was  hardly 
able  to  loosen  the  soil  about  its  roots.  What  a 
deep-rooted  plant  it  was  !  Again  the  girl  pulled 
with  all  her  might,  and  observed  that  the  earth 
began  to  stir  and  crack  to  some  distance  around 
the  stem.  She  gave  another  pull,  but  relaxed 
her  hold,  fancying  that  there  was  a  rumbling 
sound  right  beneath  her  feet.  Did  the  roots  ex- 
tend down  into  some  enchanted  cavern  ?  Then, 
laughing  at  herself  for  so  childish  a  notion,  she 
made  another  effort :  up  came  the  shrub,  and 
Proserpina  staggered  back,  holding  the  stem  tri- 
umphantly in  her  hand,  and  gazing  at  the  deep 
hole  which  its  roots  had  left  in  the  soil. 

Much  to  her  astonishment,  this  hole  kept 
spreading  wider  and  wider,  and  growing  deeper 
and  deeper,  until  it  really  seemed  to  have  no  bot- 
tom ;  and  all  .the  while,  there  came  a  rumblin'g 
noise  out  of  its  depths,  louder  and  louder,  and 
nearer  and  nearer,  and  sounding  like  the  tramp 
of  horses'  hoofs  and  the  rattling  of  wheels.  Too 
much  frightened  to  run  away,  she  stood  straining 
her  eyes  into  this  wonderful  cavity,  and  soon  saw 
a  team  of  four  sable  horses,  snorting  smoke  out  of 
their  nostrils,  and  tearing  their  way  out  of  the 


220  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

earth  with  a  splendid  golden  chariot  whirling  at 
their  heels.  They  leaped  out  of  the  bottomless 
hole,  chariot  and  all;  and  there  they  were,  tossing 
their  black  manes,  flourishing  their  black  tails,  and 
curvetting  with  every  one  of  their  hoofs  off  the 
ground  at  once,  close  by  the  spot  where  Proser- 
pina stood.  In  the  chariot  sat  the  figure  of  a 
man,  richly  dressed,  with  a  crown  on  his  head, 
all  flaming  with  diamonds.  He  was  of  a  noble 
aspect,  and  rather  handsome,  but  looked  sullen 
and  discontented;  and  he  kept  rubbing  his  eyes 
and  shading  them  with  his  hand,  as  if  he  did  not 
live  enough  in  the  sunshine  to  be  very  fond  of  its 
light. 

As  soon  as  this  personage  saw  the  affrighted 
Proserpina,  he  beckoned  her  to  come  a  little 
nearer. 

"  Do  not  be  afraid,"  said  he,  with  as  cheerful 
a  smile  as  he  knew  how  to  put  on.  "  Come ! 
Will  not  you  like  to  ride  a  little  way  with  me, 
in  my  beautiful  chariot  ?  " 

But  Proserpina  was  so  alarmed,  that  she  wished 
for  nothing  but  to  get  out  of  his  reach.  And  no 
wonder.  The  stranger  did  not  look  remarkably 
good   natured,  in  spite  of  his  smile  ;  and  as  for 


Proserpina   and    Pluto.  p.  2Q0. 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  221 

his  voice,    its    tones  were    deep  and   stern,  and 
sounded  as  much  like  the  rumbling  of  an  earth 
quake  under  ground   as  any  thing  else.     As  is 
always  the  case  with  children  in  trouble,  Proser- 
pina's first  thought  was  to  call  for  her  mother. 

*'  Mother,  Mother  Ceres  I "  cried  she,  all  in  a 
tremble.     "  Come  quickly  and  save  me." 

But  her  voice  was  too  faint  for  her  mother  to 
hear.  Indeed,  it  is  most  probable  that  Ceres 
was  then  a  thousand  miles  off,  making  the  corn 
grow  in  some  far  distant  country.  Nor  could  it 
have  availed  her  poor  daughter,  even  had  she 
been  within  hearing ;  for  no  sooner  did  Proser- 
pina begin  to  cry  out,  than  the  stranger  leaped  to 
the  ground,  caught  the  child  in  his  arms,  and 
again  mounting  the  chariot,  shook  the  reins,  and 
shouted  to  the  four  black  horses  to  set  off.  They 
immediately  broke  into  so  swift  a  gallop,  that  it 
seemed  rather  like  flying  through  the  air  than 
running  along  the  earth.  In  a  moment,  Proser- 
pina lost  sight  of  the  pleasant  vale  of  Enna,  in 
which  she  had  always  dwelt.  Another  instant, 
and  even  the  summit  of  Mount  ^tna  had  be- 
come so  blue  in  the  distance,  that  she  could 
scarcely   distinguish     it   from    the    smoke   that 


222  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

gushed  out  of  its  crater.  But  still  the  poor  child 
screamed,  and  scattered  her  apron  full  of  flowers 
along  the  way,  and  left  a  long  cry  trailing  behind 
the  chariot ;  and  many  mothers,  to  whose  ears  it 
came,  ran  quickly  to  see  if  any  mischief  had  be- 
fallen their  children.  But  Mother  Ceres  was  a 
great  way  off,  and  could  not  hear  the  cry. 

As  they  rode  on,  the  stranger  did  his  best  to 
soothe  her. 

"  Why  should  you  be  so  frightened,  my  pretty 
child?"  said  he,  trying  to  soften  his  rough  voice. 
"  I  promise  not  to  do  you  any  harm.  What ! 
You  have  been  gathering  flowers  ?  Wait  till  we 
come  to  my  palace,  and  I  will  give  you  a  garden 
full  of  prettier  flowers  than  those,  all  made  of 
pearls,  and  diamonds,  and  rubies.  Can  you 
guess  who  I  am  ?  They  call  my  name  Pluto ; 
and  I  am  the  king  of  diamonds  and  all  other 
precious  stones.  Every  atom  of  the  gold  and 
silver  that  lies  under  the  earth  belongs  to  me,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  copper  and  iron,  and  of  the 
coal  mines,  which  supply  me  with  abundance  oi 
fuel.  Do  you  see  tliis  splendid  crown  upon  my 
bead?  You  may  have  it  for  a  plaything.  O, 
we  shall  be  very  good  friends,  and  you  will  find 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  223 

mo  more  agreeable  than  you  expect,  when  once 
we  get  out  of  this  troublesome  sunshine." 

"  Let  me  go  home ! "  cried  Proserpina.  "  Let 
me  go  home  I  " 

*'  My  home  is  better  than  your  mother's,"  an- 
swered King  Pluto.  "  It  is  a  palace,  all  made 
of  gold,  with  crystal  windows;  and  because 
there  is  little  or  no  sunshine  thereabouts,  the 
apartments  are  illuminated  with  diamond  lamps. 
You  never  saw  any  thing  half  so  magnificent 
as  my  throne.  If  you  like,  you  may  sit  down  on 
it,  and  be  my  little  queen,  and  I  will  sit  on  the 
footstool." 

"  I  don't  care  for  golden  palaces  and  thrones," 
sobbed  Proserpina.  "  O  my  mother,  my  mother ! 
Carry  me  back  to  my  mother  I  " 

But  King  Pluto,  as  he  called  himself,  only 
shouted  to  his  steeds  to  go  faster. 

"  Pray  do  not  be  foolish,  Proserpina,"  said  he, 
in  rather  a  sullen  tone.  "  I  offer  you  my  palace 
and  my  crown,  and  all  the  riches  that  are  under 
the  earth ;  and  you  treat  me  as  if  I  were  doing 
you  an  injury.  The  one  thing  which  my  palace 
needs  is  a  merry  little  maid,  to  run  up  stairs 
and   down,  and  cheer   up   the   rooms  with  her 


224  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

smile.     And  this  is  what  you  must  do  for  King 
Pluto." 

"  Never  I"  answered  Proserpina,  looking  as  mis- 
erable as  she  could.  "  I  shall  never  smile  again 
till  you  set  me  down  at  my  mother's  door." 

But  she  might  just  as  well  have  talked  to  the 
wind  that  whistled  past  them  ;  for  Pluto  urged 
on  his  horses,  and  went  faster  than  ever.  Proser 
pina  continued  to  cry  out,  and  screamed  so  long 
and  so  loudly,  that  her  poor  little  voice  was 
almost  screamed  away;  and  when  it  was  nothing 
but  a  whisper,  she  happened  to  cast  her  eyes 
over  a  great,  broad  field  of  waving  grain — and 
whom  do  you  think  she  saw^  ?  Who,  but  Mother 
Ceres,  making  the  corn  grow,  and  too  busy  to 
notice  the  golden  chariot  as  it  went  rattling 
along.  The  child  mustered  all  her  strength,  and 
gave  one  more  scream,  but  was  out  of  sight  be- 
fore Ceres  had  time  to  turn  her  head. 

King  Pluto  had  taken  a  road  which  now 
began  to  grow  excessively  gloomy.  It  was  bor- 
dered on  each  side  with  rocks  and  precipices,  be- 
tween which  the  rumbling  of  the  chariot  wheels 
was  reverberated  with  a  noise  like  rolling  thun- 
der.    The  trees    and   bushes  that   grew  in  the 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  225 

crevices  of  the  rocks  had  very  dismal  foliage , 
and  by  and  by,  although  it  was  hardly  noon,  the 
air  became  obscm-ed  with  a  gi'ay  twilight.  The 
black  horses  had  rushed  along  so  swiftly,  that  they 
were  already  beyond  the  limits  of  the  sunshine. 
But  the  duskier  it  grew,  the  more  did  Pluto's 
visage  assume  an  air  of  satisfaction.  After  all, 
he  was  not  an  ill-looking  person,  especially 
when  he  left  off  twisting  his  features  into  a  smile 
that  did  not  belong  to  them.  Proserpina  peeped 
at  his  face  through  the  gathering  dusk,  and 
hoped  that  he  might  not  be  so  very  wicked  as 
she  at  first  thought  him. 

"  Ah,  this  twilight  is  truly  refreshing,"  said 
King  Pluto,  "  after  being  so  tormented  with  that 
ugly  and  impertinent  glare  of  the  sun.  How 
much  more  agreeable  is  lamplight  or  torchlight, 
more  particularly  when  reflected  from  diamonds ! 
It  will  be  a  magnificent  sight,  when  we  get  to 
my  palace." 

"  Is  it  much  farther  ?  "  asked  Proserpina. 
"  And  will  you  carry  me  back  when  I  have 
seen  it?" 

"  We  will  talk  of  that  by  and  by,"  answered 
Pluto.     "  We  are  just  entering  my  dominions. 


226  THE    '"^>MEGRANATK    SEEDS. 

Jjo  you  see  that  tall  gateway  before  us  ?  When 
we  pass  those  gates,  we  are  at  home.  And 
there  lies  my  faithful  mastiff  at  the  threshold. 
Cerberus  I  Cerberus !  Come  hither,  my  good 
dog  I " 

So  saying,  Pluto  pulled  at  the  reins,  and 
stopped  the  chariot  right  between  the  tail,  mas- 
sive pillars  of  the  gateway.  The  mastiff  of 
which  he  had  spoken  got  up  from  the  thresh- 
old, and  stood  on  his  hinder  legs,  so  as  to  put 
his  fore  paws  on  the  chariot  wheel.  But,  my 
stars,  what  a  strange  dog  it  was !  Why,  he 
was  a  big,  rough,  ugly-looking  monster,  with 
three  separate  heads,  and  each  of  them  fiercer 
than  the  two  others ;  but  fierce  as  they  were, 
King  Pluto  patted  them  all.  He  seemed  as 
fond  of  his  three-headed  dog  as  if  it  had  been  a 
sweet  little  spaniel,  with  silken  ears  and  curly 
hair.  Cerberus,  on  the  other  hand,  was  evi- 
dently rejoiced  to  see  his  master,  and  expressed 
his  attachment,  as  other  dogs  do,  by  wagging 
his  tail  at  a  great  rate.  Proserpina's  eyes  being 
drawn  to  it  by  its  brisk  motion,  she  saw  that 
this  tail  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  live 
dragon,    with    fiery    eyes,    and    fangs   that    had 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 


227 


a  very  poisonous  aspect.  And  while  the  three- 
headed  Cerberus  was  fawning  so  lovingly  on 
King  Pluto,  there  was  the  dragon  tail  wagging 
against  its  will,  and  looking  as  cross  and  ill 
natured  as  you  can  imagine,  on  its  own  separate 
account. 

"  Will  the  dog  bite  me  ? "  asked  Proserpina, 
shrinking  closer  to  Pluto.  "  What  an  ugly  crea- 
ture he  is ! " 

*'  O,  never  fear,"  answered  her  companion. 
"  He  never  harms  people,  unless  they  try  to  enter 
my  dominions  without  being  sent  for,  or  to  get 
away  when  I  wish  to  keep  them  here.  Down, 
Cerberus  !  Now,  my  pretty  Proserpina,  we  will 
drive  on." 

On  went  the  chariot,  and  King  Pluto  seemed 
greatly  pleased  to  find  himself  once  more  in 
his  own  kingdom.  He  drew  Proserpina's  atten- 
tion to  the  rich  veins  of  gold  that  were  to  be 
seen  among  the  rocks,  and  pointed  to  several 
places  where  one  stroke  of  a  pickaxe  would 
loosen  a  bushel  of  diamonds.  All  along  the 
road,  indeed,  there  were  sparkling  gems,  which 
would  have  been  of  inestimable  value  above 
ground,  but  which   here   were  reckoned  of  the 


228  THE    rOMEGKANATE    SEEDS. 

meaner  sort,  and  hardly  worth  a  beggar's  stoop- 
ing for.  * 

Not  far  from  the  gateway,  they  came  to  a 
bridge,  which  seemed  to  be  built  of  iron.  Pluto 
stopped  the  chariot,  and  bade  Proserpina  look 
at  the  stream  which  was  gliding  so  lazily  be- 
neath it.  Never  in  her  life  had  she  beheld  so 
torpid,  so  black,  so  muddy-looking  a  stream  :  its 
waters  reflected  no  images  of  any  thing  that  was 
on  the  banks,  and  it  moved  as  sluggishly  as  if 
it  had  quite  forgotten  which  way  it  ought  to 
flow,  and  had  rather  stagnate  than  flow  either 
one  way  or  the  other. 

"  This  is  the  River  Lethe,"  observed  King 
Pluto.     "Is  it   not   a   very  pleasant   stream  ? " 

"  I  think  it  a  very  dismal  one,"  said  Proserpina. 

"  It  suits  my  taste,  however,"  answered  Pluto, 
who  was  apt  to  be  sullen  when  any  body  dis- 
agreed with  him.  "  At  all  events,  its  water  has 
one  very  excellent  quality  ;  for  a  single  draught 
of  it  makes  people  forget  every  care  and  sorrow 
that  has  hitherto  tormented  them.  Only  sip  a 
little  of  it,  my  dear  Proserpina,  and  you  will 
instantly  cease  to  grieve  for  your  mother,  and 
will    have    nothing    in    your   memory    that   can 


THE    POViEGRANATE    SEEDS.  229 

prevent  your  being  perfectly  happy  in  my  palace. 
I  will  send  for  some,  in  a  ^golden  goblet,  the 
moment  we  arrive." 

"  O,  no,  no,  no!"  cried  Proserpina,  weeping 
afresh.  "  I  had  a  thousand  times  rather  be 
miserable  with  remembering  my  mother,  than 
be  happy  in  forgetting  her.  That  dear,  dear 
mother!     I  never,  never  will  forget  her." 

"  We  shall  see,"  said  King  Pluto.  "  You  do 
not  know  what  fine  times  we  will  have  in  my 
palace.  Here  we  are  just  at  the  portal.  These 
pillars  are  solid  gold,  I  assure  you." 

He  alighted  from  the  chariot,  and  taking  Pro- 
serpina in  his  arms,  caii'ied  her  up  a  lofty  flight 
of  steps  into  the  great  hall  of  the  palace.  It  was 
splendidly  illuminated  by  means  of  large  precious 
stones,  of  various  hues,  which  seemed  to  burn 
like  so  many  lamps,  and  glowed  with  a  hundred 
fold  radiance  all  through  the  vast  apartment. 
And  yet  there  was  a  kind  of  gloom  in  the  midst 
of  this  enchanted  light ;  nor  was  there  a  single 
object  in  thf.  hall  that  was  really  agreeable  to 
behold;  except  the  little  Proserpina  herself,  a 
lovely  child,  with  one  earthly  flower  which  she 
had  not  let  fall  from  her  hand.     It  is  my  opinion 


2oO  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

that  even  King  Pluto  had  never  been  happy  in 
his  palace,  and  that  this  was  the  true  reason  why 
he  had  stolen  away  Proserpina,  in  order  that  he 
might  have  something  to  love,  instead  of  cheat- 
ing his  heart  any  longer  with  this  tiresome  mag- 
nificence. And,  though  he  pretended  to  dislike 
the  sunshine  of  the  upper  world,  yet  the  effect  of 
the  child's  presence,  bedimmed  as  she  was  by  her 
tears,  was  as  if  a  faint  and  watery  sunbeam  had 
somehow  or  other  found  its  way  into  the  en- 
chanted hall. 

Pluto  now  summoned  his  domestics,  and  bade 
them  lose  no  time  in  preparing  a  most  sumptu- 
ous banquet,  and  above  all  things,  not  to  fail  of 
•setting  a  golden  beaker  of  the  water  of  Lethe 
by  Proserpina's  plate. 

"  I  will  neither  drink  that  nor  any  thing  else," 
said  Proserpina.  ^'  Nor  will  I  taste  a  morsel 
of  food,  even  if  you  keep  me  forever  in  your 
palace." 

"  I  should  be  sorry  for  that,"  replied  King 
Pluto,  patting  her  cheek  ;  for  he  really  wished 
to  be  kind,  if  he  had  only  known  how.  "  You 
are  a  spoiled  child,  I  perceive,  my  little  Proser- 
pina ;  but  when  you   sec  the  nice  things  which 


THE    POMEGRANATE    8EEDS.  231 

my  cook  will  make  for  you,  your  appetite  will 
quickly  come  again." 

Then,  sending  for  the  head  cook,  he  gave  strict 
orders  that  all  sorts  of  delicacies,  such  as  young 
people  are  usually  fond  of,  should  be  set  before 
Proserpina.  He  had  a  secret  motive  in  this ;  for, 
you  are  to  understand,  it  is  a  fixed  law,  that, 
when  persons  are  carried  off  to  the  land  of  magic, 
if  they  once  taste  any  food  there,  they  can  never 
get  back  to  their  friends.  Now,  if  King  Pluto 
had  been  cunning  enough  to  offer  Proserpina 
some  fruit,  or  bread  and  milk,  (which  was  the 
simple  fare  to  which  the  child  had  always  been 
accustomed,)  it  is  very  probable  that  she  would 
soon  have  been  tempted  to  eat  it.  But  he  left 
the  matter  entirely  to  his  cook,  who,  like  all  other 
cooks,  considered  nothing  fit  to  eat  unless  it 
were  rich  pastry,  or  highly-seasoned  meat,  or 
spiced  sweet  cakes  —  things  which  Proserpina's 
mother  had  never  given  her,  and  the  smell  of 
which  quite  took  away  her  appetite,  instead  of 
sharpening  it. 

But  my  story  must  now  clamber  out  of  King 
Pluto's  dominions,  and  see  w^hat  Mother  Ceres 
has   been   about,    since    she  Was   bereft   of  her 


232  THE    rOMEGRAXATE    SEEDS. 

daughter.  We  had  a  glimpse  of  her,  as  you 
remember,  half  hidden  among  the  waving  grain, 
while  the  four  black  steeds  were  swiftly  whirling 
along  the  chariot,  in  which  her  beloved  Proser- 
pina was  so  unwillingly  borne  away.  You  recol- 
lect, too,  the  loud  scream  which  Proserpina  gave, 
just  when  the  chariot  was  out  of  sight. 

Of  all  the  child's  outcries,  this  last  shriek  was 
the  only  one  that  reached  the  ears  of  Mother 
Ceres.  She  had  mistaken  the  rumbling  of  the 
chariot  wheels  for  a  peal  of  thunder,  and  im- 
agined that  a  shower  was  coming  up,  and  that 
it  would  assist  her  in  making  the  corn  grow. 
But,  at  the  sound  of  Proserpina's  shriek,  she 
started,  and  looked  about  in  every  direction,  not 
knowing  whence  it  came,  but  feeling  alm^ost  cer- 
tain that  it  was  her  daughter's  voice.  It  seemed 
so  unaccountable,  however,  that  the  girl  should 
have  strayed  over  so  many  lands  and  seas,  (which 
she  herself  could  not  have  traversed  without  the 
aid  of  her  winged  dragons,)  that  the  good  Ceres 
tried  to  believe  that  it  must  be  the  child  of  some 
other  parent,  and  not  her  own  darling  Proser- 
pina, who  had  uttered  this  lamentable  cry.  Nev- 
ertheless, it  troubled  her  with  a  vast  many  tendef 


THE    POiAfEGRANATE    SEEDS.  233 

fearsj  such  as  are  ready  to  bestir  themselves  in 
every  mother's  heart,  when  she  finds  it  necessary 
to  go  away  from  her  dear  children  without  leav- 
ing them  under  the  care  of  some  maiden  aunt, 
or  other  such  faithful  guardian.  So  she  quickly 
left  the  field  in  which  she  had  been  so  busy; 
and,  as  her  work  was  not  half  done,  the  grain 
looked,  next  day,  as  if  it  needed  both  sun  and 
rain,  and  as  if  it  were  blighted  in  the  ear,  and 
had  something  the  matter  with  its  roots. 

The  pair  of  dragons  must  have  had  very  nim- 
ble wings ;  for,  in  less  than  an  hour.  Mother 
Ceres  had  alighted  at  the  door  of  her  home,  and 
found  it  empty.  Knowing,  however,  that  the 
child  was  fond  of  sporting  on  the  sea  shore,  she 
hastened  thither  as  fast  as  she  could,  and  there 
beheld  the  wet  faces  of  the  poor  sea  nymphs 
peeping  over  a  wave.  All  this  while,  the  good 
creatures  had  been  waiting  on  the  bank  of 
sponge,  and,  once  every  half  minute  or  so,  had 
popped  up  their  four  heads  above  water,  to  see 
if  theii  playmate  were  yet  coming  back.  When 
they  saw  Mother  Ceres,  they  sat  down  on  the 
crest  of  the  surf  wave,  and  let  it  toss  them  ashore 
at  her  feet. 


•234  THE    rOMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

"  Where  is  Proserpina  ?  "  cried  Ceres.  "  Where 
is  my  child?  Tell  me,  you  naughty  sea  nymphs, 
have  you  enticed  her  under  the  sea  ?  " 

"  O,  no,  good  Mother  Ceres,"  said  the  inno- 
cent sea  nymphs,  tossing  back  their  green  ring- 
lets, and  looking  her  in  the  face.  "  We  never 
should  dream  of  such  a  thing.  Proserpina  has 
been  at  play  with  us,  it  is  true  ;  but  she  left  us  a 
long  while  ago,  meaning  only  to  run  a  little  way 
upon  the  dry  land,  and  gather  some  flowers  for  a 
wreath.  This  was  early  in  the  day,  and  we  have 
seen  nothinsf  of  her  since." 

Ceres  scarcely  waited  to  hear  what  the  nymphs 
had  to  say,  before  she  hurried  off  to  make  in- 
quiries all  through  the  neighborhood.  But  no- 
body told  her  any  thing  that  could  enable  the 
poor  mother  to  guess  what  had  become  of  Pro- 
serpina. A  fisherman,  it  is  true,  had  noticed  her 
little  footprints  in  the  sand,  as  he  \vent  home- 
ward along  the  beach  with  a  basket  of  fish  ;  a 
rustic  had  seen  the  child  stooping  to  gather  flow- 
ers ;  several  persons  had  heard  either  the  rattling 
of  chariot  wheels,  or  the  rumbling  of  distant 
thunder ;  and  one  old  woman,  while  plucking 
vervain  and  catnij),  had  heard  a  scream,  but  sup- 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  235 

posed  it  to  be  some  childish  nonsense,  and  there- 
fore did  not  take  the  trouble  to  look  up.  The 
stupid  people !  It  took  them  such  a  tedious 
while  to  tell  th^  nothing  that  they  knew,  that  it 
was  dark  night  before  Mother  Ceres  found  out 
that  she  must  seek  her  daughter  elsewhere.  So 
she  lighted  a  torch,  and  set  forth,  resolving  never 
to  come  back  until  Proserpina  was  discovered. 

In  her  haste  and  trouble  of  mind,  she  quite 
forget  her  car  and  the  winged  dragons;  or,  it 
may  be,  she  thought  that  she  could  follow  up 
the  search  more  thoroughly  on  foot.  At  all 
events,  this  was  the  way  in  which  she  began  her 
sorrowful  journey,  holding  her  torch  before  her, 
and  looking  carefully  at  every  object  along  the 
path.  And  as  it  happened,  she  had  not  gone 
far  before  she  found  one  of  the  magnificent 
flowers  which  grew  on  the  shrub  that  Proser- 
pina had  pulled  up. 

"Ha!"  thought  Mother  Ceres,  examining  it 
by  torchlight.  "  Here  is  mischief  in  this  flower! 
The  earth  did  not  produce  it  by  any  help  of 
mine,  nor  of  its  own  accord.  It  is  the  work  of 
enchantment,  and  is  therefore  poisonous ;  and 
perhaps  it  has  poisoned  my  poor  child." 


236  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

But  she  put  the  poisonous  flower  in  her  bosom, 
not  knowing  whether  she  might  ever  find  any 
other  memorial  of  Proserpina. 

All  night  long,  at  the  door  of  every  cottage 
and  farm  house,  Ceres  knocked,  and  called  up 
the  weary  laborers  to  inquire  if  they  had  seen 
her  child  ;  and  they  stood,  gaping  and  half  asleep, 
at  the  threshold,  and  answered  her  pityingly,  and 
besought  her  to  come  in  and  rest.  At  the  portal 
of  every  palace,  too,  she  made  so  loud  a  sum- 
mons that  the  menials  hurried  to  throw  open  the 
gate,  thinking  that  it  must  be  some  great  king  or 
queen,  who  would  demand  a  banquet  for  supper 
and  a  stately  chamber  to  repose  in.  And  when 
they  saw  only  a  sad  and  anxious  woman,  with  a 
torch  in  her  hand  and  a  wreath  of  withered  pop- 
pies on  her  head,  they  spoke  rudely,  and  some- 
times threatened  to  set  the  dogs  upon  her.  But 
nobody  had  seen  Proserpina,  nor  could  give 
Mother  Ceres  the  least  hint  which  way  to  seek 
her.  Thus  passed  the  night ;  and  still  she  con- 
tinued her  search  without  sitting  down  to^rest  or 
stopping  to  take  food,  or  even  remembering  to 
put  out  the  torch  ;  although  first  the  rosy  dawn, 
and    then  the    glad    light    of  the    morning    sun, 


THE    PO.IEGRANATE    SEEDS.  23/ 

made  its  red  flame  look  thin  and  pale.  But  I 
wonder  what  sort  of  stuff  this  torch  was  made 
of;  for  it  burned  dimly  through  the  day,  and,  at 
night,  was  as  bright  as  ever,  and  never  was  ex- 
tinguished by  the  rain  or  wind,  in  all  the  weary 
days  and  nights  while  Ceres  was  seeking  for 
Proserpina. 

It  was  not  merely  of  human  beings  that  she 
asked  tidings  of  her  daughter.  In  the  woods 
and  by  the  streams,  she  met  creatures  of  another 
nature,  who  used,  in  those  old  times,  to  haunt 
the  pleasant  and  solitary  places,  and  were  very 
sociable  with  persons  who  understood  their  lan- 
guage and  customs,  as  Mother  Ceres  did.  Some- 
times, for  instance,  she  tapped  with  her  finger 
against  the  knotted  trunk  of  a  majestic  oak ;  and 
immediately  its  rude  bark  would  cleave  asunder, 
and  forth  would  step  a  beautiful  maiden,  who 
was  the  hamadryad  of  the  oak,  dwelling  inside 
of  it,  and  sharing  its  long  life,  and  rejoicing 
when  its  green  leaves  sported  with  the  breeze. 
But  not  one  of  these  leafy  damsels  had  seen 
Proserpina.  Then,  going  a  little  farther,  Ceres 
would,  perhaps,  come  to  a  fountain,  gushing  out 
of   a  pebbly   hollow   in   the   earth,    and  would 


2o8 


THE    POATEGRANATE    SEEDS. 


dabble  with  her  hand  in  the  water.  Behold,  up 
through  its  sandy  and  pebbly  bed,  along  witn 
the  fountain's  gush,  a  young  woman  with  drip- 
ping hair  would  arise,  and  stand  gazing  at  Mother 
Ceres,  half  out  of  the  water,  and  undulating  up 
and  down  with  its  ever-restless  motion.  But 
when  the  mother  asked  whether  her  poor  lost 
child  had  stopped  to  drink  out  of  the  fountain, 
the  naiad,  with  weeping  eyes,  (for  these  water 
nymphs  had  tears  to  spare  for  every  body's 
grief,)  would  answer  "  No !  "  in  a  murmuring 
voice,  which  was  just  like  the  murmur  of  the 
stream. 

Often,  likewise,  she  encountered  fauns,  who 
lOoked  like  sunburnt  country  people,  except  that 
they  had  hairy  ears,  and  little  horns  upon  their 
foreheads,  and  the  hinder  legs  of  goats,  on  which 
they  gambolled  merrily  about  the  woods  and 
fields.  They  were  a  frolicsome  kind  of  creature, 
but  grew  as  sad  as  their  cheerful  dispositions 
would  allow,  when  Ceres  inquired  for  her  daugh- 
ter, and  they  had  no  good  news  to  tell.  But 
sometimes  she  came  suddenly  upon  a  rude  gang 
of  satyrs,  who  had  faces  like  monkeys,  and 
norses'    tails  behind  tliem,  and   who  were  gen« 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  239 

erally  dancing  in  a  very  boisterous  manner,  with 
shouts  of  noisy  laughter.  When  she  stopped 
to  question  them,  they  would  only  laugh  the 
louder,  and  make  new  merriment  out  of  the  lone 
woman's  distress.  How  unkind  of  those  ugly 
satyrs !  And  once,  while .  crossing  a  solitary 
sheep  pasture,  she  saw  a  personage  named  Pan, 
seated  at  the  foot  of  a  tall  rock,  and  making 
music  on  a  shepherd's  flute.  He,  too,  had  horns, 
and  hairy  ears,  and  goat's  feet;  but,  being  ac- 
quainted with  Mother  Ceres,  he  answered  her 
question  as  civilly  as  he  knew  how,  and  invited 
her  to  taste  some  milk  and  honey  out  of  a  wooden 
bowl.  But  neither  could  Pan  tell  her  what  had 
become  of  Proserpina,  any  better  than  the  rest 
of  these  wild  people. 

And  thus  Mother  Ceres  went  wandering  about 
for  nine  long  days  and  nights,  finding  no  trace 
of  Proserpina,  unless  it  were  now  and  then  a 
withered  flower;  and  these  she  picked  up  and 
put  in  her  bosom,  because  she  fancied  that  they 
might  have  fallen  from  her  poor  child's  hand. 
All  day  she  travelled  onward  through  the  hot 
sun ;  and  at  night,  again,  the  flame  of  the  torch 
would  redden  and  gleam  along  the  pathway,  and 


240  TUE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

she   continued   her  search  by  its  light,  without 
ever  sitting  down  to  rest. 

On  the  tenth  day,  she  chanced  to  espy  the 
mouth  of  a  cavern,  within  which  (though  it  was 
bright  noon  every  where  else)  there  would  have 
been  only  a  dusky  twilight;  but  it  so  happened 
that  a  torch  was  burning  there.  It  flickered, 
and  struggled  with  the  duskiness,  but  could  not 
half  light  up  the  gloomy  cavern  with  all  its  mel- 
ancholy glimmer.  Ceres  was  resolved  to  leave 
no  spot  without  a  search ;  so  she  peeped  into  the 
entrance  of  the  cave,  and  lighted  it  up  a  little 
more,  by  holding  her  own  torch  before  her. 
In  so  doing,  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  what 
seemed  to  be  a  woman,  sitting  on  the  brown 
leaves  of  the  last  autumn,  a  great  heap  of  which 
had  been  swept  into  the  cave  by  the  wind. 
This  woman  (if  woman  it  were)  was  by  no 
means  so  beautiful  as  many  of  her  sex  ;  for  her 
head,  they  tell  me,  was  shaped  very  much  like  a 
dog's,  and,  by  way  of  ornament,  she  wore  a 
wreath  of  snakes  around  it.  But  Mother  Ceres, 
the  moment  she  saw  her,  knew  that  this  was  an 
odd  kind  of  a  person,  who  put  all  her  enjoyment 
in  being   miserable,    and    never  would   have   a 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  241 

I 

word  to  say  to  other  people,  unless  they  were  as 
melancholy  and  wretched  as  she  herself  delighted 
to  be. 

"  I  am  wretched  enough  now,"  thought  poor 
Ceres,  "to  talk  with  this  melancholy  Hecate, 
were  she  ten  times  sadder  than  ever  she  was 
yet." 

So  she  stepped  into  the  cave,  and  sat  down 
on  the  withered  leaves  by  the  dog-headed  wo- 
man's side.  In  all  the  world,  since  her  daugh- 
ter's loss,  she  had   found   no  other   companion. 

"  O  Hecate,"  said  she,  "  if  ever  you  lose  a 
daughter,  you  will  know  what  sorrow  is.  Tell 
me,  for  pity's  sake,  have  you  seen  my  poor  child 
Proserpina  pass  by  the  mouth  of  your  cavern?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Hecate,  in  a  cracked  voice, 
and  sighing  betwixt  every  word  or  two  ;  "  no, 
Mother  Ceres,  I  have  seen  nothing  of  your 
daughter.  But  my  ears,  you  must  know,  are 
made  in  such  a  way,  that  all  cries  of  distress  and 
affright,  all  over  the  world,  are  pretty  sure  to  find 
their  way  to  them  ;  and  nine  days  ago,  as  I  sat  in 
my  cave,  making  myself  very  miserable,  I  heard 
the  voice  of  a  young  girl,  shrieking  as  if  in  great 
distress.  Something  terrible  has  happened  to  the 
16 


242  THE     POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

child,  you  may  rest  assured.  As  well  as  I  could 
judge,  a  dragon,  or  some  other  cruel  monster, 
was  carrying  her  away." 

''  You  kill  me  by  saying  so,"  cried  Ceres, 
almost  ready  to  faint.  "  Where  was  the  sound, 
and  which  way  did  it  seem  to  go  ?  " 

"  It  passed  very  swiftly  along,"  said  Hecate, 
"  and,  at  the  same  time,  there  was  a  heavy  rum- 
bling of  wheels  towards  the  eastward.  I  can 
tell  you  nothing  more,  except  that,  in  my  honest 
opinion,  you  will  never  see  your  daughter  again. 
The  best  advice  I  can  give  you  is,  to  take  up 
your  abode  in  this  cavern,  where  we  will  be  the 
two  most  wretched  women  in  the  world." 

"  Not  yet,  dark  Hecate,"  replied  Ceres.  "  But 
do  you  first  come  with  your  torch,  and  help  me 
to  seek  for  my  lost  child.  And  when  there 
shall  be  no  more  hope  of  finding  her,  (if  that 
black  day  is  ordained  to  come,)  then,  if  you  will 
give  me  room  to  fling  myself  down,  either  on 
these  withered  leaves  or  on  the  naked  rock,  1 
will  show  you  what  it  is  to  be  miserable.  But, 
until  I  know  that  she  has  perished  from  the 
face  of  the  earth,  I  will  not  allow  myself  space 
even  to  grieve." 


THE    PO.MF.GRAN'ATE    SEEDS.  243 

The  dismal  Hecate  did  not  much  like  the 
idea  of  going  abroad  into  the  sunny  world.  But 
then  she  reflected  that  the  sorrow  of  the  discon- 
solate Ceres  would  be  like  a  gloomy  twilight 
round  about  them  both,  let  the  sun  shine  ever  so 
brightly,  and  that  therefore  she  might  enjoy  her 
bad  spirits  quite  as  well  as  she  if  she  were  to 
stay  in  the  cave.  So  she  finally  consented  to 
go,  and  they  set  out  together,  both  carrying 
torches,  although  it  was  broad  daylight  and  clear 
sunshine.  The  torchlight  seemed  to  make  a 
gloom  ;  so  that  the  people  whom  they  met,  along 
the  road,  could  not  very  distinctly  see  their 
figures ;  and,  indeed,  if  they  once  caught  a 
glimpse  of  Hecate,  with  the  wreath  of  snakes 
round  her  forehead,  they  generally  thought  it 
prudent  to  run  away,  without  waiting  for  a 
second   glance. 

As  the  pair  travelled  along  in  this  woe-begone 
manner,  a  thought  struck  Ceres. 

"  There  is  one  person,"  she  exclaimed,  "  who 
must  have  seen  my  poor  child,  and  can  doubtle^-<? 
tell  what  has  become  of  her.     Why  did  not 
think  of  him  before  ?     It  is  Phcebus.' 

"  What,"  said  Hecate,  "  the  young  man  that 


244  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

always  sits  in  the  sunshine?  O,  pray  do  not 
think  of  going  near  him.  He  is  a  gay,  light, 
frivolous  young  fellow,  and  will  only  smile  in 
your  face.  And  besides,  there  is  such  a  glare  of 
the  sun  about  him,  that  he  will  quite  blind  my 
poor  eyes,  which  I  have  almost  wept  away 
already." 

"  You  have  promised  to  be  my  companion," 
answered  Ceres.  "  Come,  let  us  make  haste,  or 
the  sunshine  will  be  gone,  and  Phoebus  along 
with  it." 

Accordingly,  they  went  along  in  quest  of 
PhcEbus,  both  of  them  sighing  grievously,  and 
Hecate,  to  say  the  truth,  making  a  great  deal 
worse  lamentation  than  Ceres ;  for  all  the  pleas- 
ure she  had,  you  know,  lay  in  being  miserable, 
and  therefore  she  made  the  most  of  it.  By  and 
by,  after  a  pretty  long  journey,  they  arrived  at 
the  sunniest  spot  in  the  whole  world.  There  they 
beheld  a  beautiful  young  man,  with  long,  curl- 
ing ringlets,  which  seemed  to  be  made  of  golden 
sunbeams ;  his  garments  were  like  light  summer 
clouds;  and  the  expression  of  his  face  was  so 
exceedingly  vivid,  that  Hecate  held  her  hands 
before  her  eyes,  muttering  t'lat  he  ought  to  wear 


THE    POMEGRA.N'ATE    SEEDS.  245 

a  black  veil.  Phoebus  (for  this  was  the  very 
person  whom  they  were  seeking)  had  a  lyre  in 
his  hands,  and  was  making  its  chords  tremble 
with  sweet  music;  at  the  same  time  singing  a 
most  exquisite  song,  which  he  had  recently  com- 
posed. For,  besides  a  great  many  other  accom- 
plishments, this  young  man  was  renowned  for 
his  admirable  poetry. 

As  Ceres  and  her  dismal  companion  ap- 
proached him,  Phoebus  smiled  on  them  so  cheer- 
fully that  Hecate's  wreath  of  snakes  gave  a 
spiteful  hiss,  and  Hecate  heartily  wished  herself 
back  in  her  cave.  But  as  for  Ceres,  she  was 
too  earnest  in  her  grief  either  to  know  or  care 
whether  Phoebus  smiled  or  frowned. 

"  Phoebus  I  "  exclaimed  she,  "  I  am  in  great 
trouble,  and  have  come  to  you  for  assistance. 
Can  you  tell  me  what  has  become  of  my  dear 
child  Proserpina  ?  " 

"Proserpina!  Proserpina,  did  you  call  her 
name?"  answered  Phoebus,  endeavoring  to  recol- 
lect ;  for  there  was  such  a  continual  flow  of 
pleasant  ideas  in  his  mind,  that  he  was  apt  to 
forget  what  had  happened  no  longer  ago  than 
yesterday.     "  Ah,  yes,  I  remember  her  now.     A 


246  THE     POMKGRA\ATE    SEEDS. 

very  lovely  child,  indeed.  I  am  happy  to  tell 
you,  my  dear  madam,  that  I  did  see  the  little 
Proserpina  not  many  days  ago.  You  may 
make  yourself  perfectly  easy  about  her.  She  is 
safe,  and  in  excellent  hands." 

"  O,  where  is  my  dear  child  ?  "  cried  Ceres, 
clasping  her  hands  and  flinging  herself  at  his 
feet. 

"  Why,"  said  Phoebus,  —  and  as  he  spoke,  he 
kept  touching  his  lyre  so  as  to  make  a  thread 
of  music  run  in  and  out  among  his  words,  — 
"  as  the  little  damsel  was  gathering  flowers,  (and 
she  has  really  a  very  exquisite  taste  for  flowers,) 
she  was  suddenly  snatched  up  by  King  Pluto, 
and  carried  off"  to  his  dominions.  I  have  never 
been  in  that  part  of  the  universe  ;  but  the  royal 
palace,  I  am  told,  is  built  in  a  very  noble  style 
of  architecture,  and  of.  the  most  splendid  and 
costly  materials.  Gold,  diamonds,  pearls,  and 
all  manner  of  precious  stones,  will  be  your 
daughter's  ordinary  playthings.  I  recommend 
to  you,  my  dear  lady,  to  give  yourself  no  un- 
easiness. Proserpina's  sense  of  beauty  will  be 
duly  gratified,  and,  even  in  spite  of  the  lack  of 
sunshine,  she  will  lead  a  very  enviable  life." 


THE    PO.AIEGRANATE    SEEDS.  247 

'*  Hush  I  Say  not  such  a  word  I  "  answered 
Ceres,  indignantly.  "  What  i>  there  to  gratify 
her  heart?  What  are  all  the  splendors  you 
speak  of,  without  affection  ?  I  must  have  her 
back  again.  Will  you  go  with  me,  Phoebus,  to 
demand  my  daughter  of  this  wicked   Pluto  ? " 

"  Pray  excuse  me,"  replied  Phoebus,  with  an 
elegant  obeisance.  "  I  certainly  wish  you  suc- 
cess, and  regret  that  my  own  affairs  are  so  im- 
mediately pressing  that  I  cannot  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  attending  you.  Besides,  I  am  not  upon 
the  best  of  terms  with  King  Pluto.  To  tell  you 
the  truth,  his  three-headed  mastiff  would  never 
let  me  pass  the  gateway;  for  I  should  be  com- 
pelled to  take  a  sheaf  of  sunbeams  along  with 
me,  and  those,  you  know,  are  forbidden  things 
in  Pluto's  kingdom." 

"  Ah,  Phoebus,"  said  Ceres,  with  bitter  moan- 
ing in  her  words,  "  you  have  a  harp  instead  of  a 
heart.     Farewell." 

"  Will  not  you  stay  a  moment,"  asked  Phoe- 
bus, "  and  hear  me  turn  the  pretty  and  touching 
story  of  Proserpina  into  extemporary  verses  ?  " 

But  Ceres  shook  her  head,  and  hastened  away, 
along  with  Hecate.      Phoebus   (who,  as   T  \\ye 


2-18  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

told  you,  was  an  exquisite  poet)  forthwith  began 
to  make  an  ode  about  the  poor  mother's  grief; 
iiu3,  if  we  were  to  judge  of  his  sensibility  by 
this  beautiful  prod  action,  he  must  have  been 
endowed  with  a  very  tender  heart.  But  when  a 
poet  gets  into  the  habit  of  using  his  heartstrings 
to  make  chords  for  his  lyre,  he  may  thrum  upon 
them  as  much  as  he  will,  without  any  great  pain 
to  himself.  x4.ccordingly,  though  Phoebus  sang 
a  ^ery  sad  song,  he  was  as  merry  all  the  while 
as  were  the  sunbeams  amid  which  he  dwelt. 
Voor  Mother  Ceres  had  now  found  out  what 
had  become  of  her  daughter,  but  was  not  a  whit 
happier  than  before.  Her  case,  on  the  contrary, 
looked  more  desperate  than  ever.  As  long  as 
Proserpina  was  above  ground,  there  might  have 
been  hopes  of  regaining  her.  But  now  that  the 
poor  child  was  shut  up  within  the  iron  gates  of 
the  king  of  the  mines,  at  the  threshold  of  which 
lay  the  three-headed  Cerberus,  there  seemed  no 
possibility  of  her  ever  making  her  escape.  The 
dismal  Hecate,  who  loved  to  take  the  darkest 
view  of  things,  told  Ceres  that  she  had  better 
come  with  her  to  the  cavern,  and  spend  the  rest 
of  her  life  in  being  miserabh^      Ceres  answeredj 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  249 

that  Hecate  was  welcome  to  go  back  thither  her- 
self, but  that,  for  her  part,  she  would  wander 
about  the  earth  in  quest  of  the  entrance  to  King 
Pluto's  dominions.  And  Hecate  took  her  at  her 
word,  and  hurried  back  to  her  beloved  cave, 
frightening  a  great  many  little  children  with  a 
glimpse  of  her  dog's  face,   as  she  went. 

Poor  Mother  Ceres  !  It  is  melancholy  to  think 
of  her,  pursuing  her  toilsome  way,  all  alone,  and 
holding  up  that  never-dying  torch,  the  flame  of 
wiiich  seemed  an  emblem  of  the  grief  and  hope 
that  burned  together  in  her  heart.  So  much  did 
she  suffer,  that,  though  her  aspect  had  been  quite 
youthful  when  her  troubles  began,  she  grew  to 
look  like  an  elderly  person  in  a  very  brief  time. 
She  cared  not  how  she  was  dressed,  nor  had  she 
ever  thought  of  flinging  away  the  wreath  of 
withered  poppies,  which  she  put  on  the  very 
morning  of  Proserpina's  disappearance.  She 
roamed  about  in  so  wild  a  way,  and  with  her 
hair  so  dishevelled,  that  people  took  her  for  some 
distracted  creature,  and  never  dreamed  that  this 
was  Mother  Ceres,  who  had  the  oversight  of  every 
seed  which  the  husbandman  planted.  Nowa- 
days, however,  she  gave  herself  no  trouble  about 


250 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 


seed  time  nor  harvest,  but  left  the  farmers  to 
take  care  of  their  own  atl'airs,  and  the  crops  to 
fade  or  flourish,  as  the  case  might  be.  There 
was  nothing,  now,  in  which  Ceres  seemed  to  feel 
an  interest,  unle.ss  when  she  saw  children  at 
play,  or  gathering  flowers  along  the  wayside. 
Then,  indeed,  she  would  stand  and  gaze  at  them 
with  tears  in  her  eyes.  The  children,  too,  ap- 
peared to  have  a  sympathy  with  her  gi'ief,  and 
would  cluster  themselves  in  a  little  group  about 
her  knees,  and  look  up  wistfully  in  her  face ;  and 
Ceres,  after  giving  them  a  kiss  all  round,  would 
lead  them  to  their  homes,  and  advise  their  moth- 
ers never  to  let  them  stray  out  of  sight. 

"  For  if  they  do,"  said  she,  "  it  may  happen  to 
you,  as  it  has  to  me,  that  the  iron-hearted  King 
Pluto  will  take  a  liking  to  your  darlings,  and 
snatch  them  up  in  his  chariot,  and  carry  them 
away." 

One  day,  during  her  pilgrimage  in  quest  of 
the  entrance  to  Pluto's  kingdom,  she  came  to 
the  palace  of  King  Celens,  who  reigned  at  Eleu- 
sis.  Ascending  a  lofty  flight  of  steps,  she  en- 
tered the  portal,  and  found  the  royal  household 
in    very    great    ala.rin    about    the    queen's    baby. 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  251 

The  infant,  it  seems,  was  sickly,  (being  troubled 
with  its  teeth,  I  suppose,)  and  would  take  no 
food,  and  was  all  the  time  moaning  with  pain. 
The  queen  —  her  name  was  Metanira — was  de- 
sirous of  finding  a  nurse  ;  and  when  she  beheld 
a  woman  of  matronly  aspect  coming  up  the 
palace  steps,  she  thought,  in  her  own  mind,  that 
here  was  the  very  person  whom  she  needed.  So 
Queen  Metanira  ran  to  the  door,  with  the  poor 
wailing  baby  in  her  arms,  and  besought  Ceres  to 
take  charge  of  it,  or,  at  least,  to  tell  her  what 
would  do  it  good. 

"  Will  you  trust  the  child  entirely  to  me  ?  " 
asked  Ceres. 

"  Yes,  and  gladly  too,"  answered  the  queen,  "  if 
you  will  devote  all  your  time  to  him.  For  I  can 
see  that  you  have  been  a  mother." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Ceres.  "  I  once  had  a 
child  of  my  own.  Well ;  I  will  be  the  nurse  of 
this  poor,  sickly  boy.  But  beware,  I  warn  you, 
that  you  do  not  interfere  with  any  kind  of  treat- 
ment which  I  may  judge  proper  for  him.  If 
you  do  so,  the  poor  infant  must  suffer  for  his 
mother's  folly." 

Then  she  kissed  the  child,  and  it  seemed  to  do 


252  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

him  good ;  for  he  smiled  and  nestled  closely  into 
her  bosom. 

So  Mother  Ceres  set  her  torch  in  a  corner, 
(where  it  kept  burning  all  the  while,)  and  took  up 
her  abode  in  the  palace  of  King  Celeus.  as  nurse 
to  the  little  Prince  Demophoon.  She  treated 
him  as  if  he  were  her  own  child,  and  allowed 
neither  the  king  nor  the  queen  to  say  whether 
he  should  be  bathed  in  warm  or  cold  w^ater,  or 
what  he  should  eat,  or  how  often  he  should  take 
the  air,  or  \vhen  he  should  be  put  to  bed.  You 
would  hardly  believe  me,  if  I  were  to  tell  how 
quickly  the  baby  prince  got  rid  of  his  ailments, 
and  grew  fat,  and  rosy,  and  strong,  and  how  he 
had  two  rows  of  ivory  teeth  in  less  time  than 
any  other  little  fellow,  before  or  since.  Instead 
of  the  palest,  and  wretchedest,  and  puniest  imp 
in  the  world,  (as  his  own  mother  confessed  him 
to  be,  when  Ceres  first  took  him  in  charge,)  he 
was  now  a  strapping  baby,  crowing,  laughing, 
kicking  up  his  heels,  and  rolling  from  one  end 
of  the  room  to  the  other.  All  the  good  women 
of  the  neighborhood  crowded  to  the  palace,  and 
held  up  their  hands,  in  unutterable  amazement, 
at  the  beauty  and  wholesomcncss  of  this  darling 


THE    POMEGRAxNATE    SEEDS.  253 

little  prince.  Their  wonder  was  the  greater,  be- 
cause he  was  never  seen  to  taste  any  food ;  not 
even  so  much  as  a  cup  of  milk. 

"  Pray,  nurse,"  the  queen  kept  saying,  "  how 
is  it  that  you  make  the  child  thrive  so  ?  " 

"  I  was  a  mother  once,"  Ceres  always  replied  ; 
"  and  having  nursed  my  own  child,  I  know  what 
other  children  need." 

But  Queen  Metanira,  as  was  very  natural,  had 
a  great  curiosity  to  know  precisely  what  the 
nurse  did  to  her  child.  One  night,  therefore,  she 
hid  herself  in  the  chamber  where  Ceres  and  the 
little  prince  were  accustomed  to  sleep.  There 
was  a  fire  in  the  chimney,  and  it  had  now 
crumbled  into  great  coals  and  embers,  which  lay 
glowing  on  the  hearth,  with  a  blaze  flickering 
up  now  and  then,  and  flinging  a  warm  and  rud- 
dy light  upon  the  walls,  Ceres  sat  before  the 
hearth  with  the  child  in  her  lap,  and  the  fire- 
light making  her  shadow  dance  upon  the  ceiling 
overhead.  She  undressed  the  little  prince,  and 
bathed  him  all  over  with  some  fragrant  liquid 
out  of  a  vase.  The  next  thing  she  did  was  to 
rake  back  the  red  embers,  and  make  a  hollow 
place  among  them,  just  where  the  backlog  had 


254  THE    POMKGRAXATE    SEEDS. 

been.  At  last,  while  the  baby  was  crowing,  and 
clapping  its  fat  little  hands,  and  laughing  in  the 
nurse's  face,  (just  as  you  may  have  seen  youi 
little  brother  or  sister  do  before  going  into  its 
warm  bath,)  Ceres  suddenly  laid  him,  all  naked 
as  he  was,  in  the  hollow  among  the  red-hot  em- 
bers. She  then  raked  the  ashes  over  him,  and 
turned  quietly  away. 

You  may  imagine,  if  you  can,  how  Queen 
Metanira  shrieked,  thinking  nothing  less  than 
that  her  dear  child  would  be  burned  to  a  cinder 
She  burst  forth  from  her  hiding-place,  and  run 
ning  to  the  hearth,  raked  open  the  fire,  and 
snatched  up  poor  little  Prince  Demophoon  out 
of  his  bed  of  live  coals,  one  of  w^hich  he  was 
griping  in  each  of  his  fists.  He  immediately  set 
up  a  grievous  cry,  as  babies  are  apt  to  do,  when 
rudely  startled  out  of  a  sound  sleep.  To  the 
queen's  astonishment  and  joy,  she  could  perceive 
no  token  of  the  child's  being  injured  by  the  hot 
fire  in  which  he  had  lain.  She  now  turned  to 
Mother  Ceres,  and  asked  her  to  explain  the 
mystery. 

"Foolish  woman,"  answered  Ceres,  "  did  you 
not  promise  to  intrust  this  poor  infant  entirely 


TIJE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  2f)5 

to  me  ?  You  little  know  the  mischief  you  have 
done  him.  Had  you  left  him  to  my  care,  he 
would  have  grown  up  like  a  child  of  celestial 
birth,  endowed  with  superiiuman  strength  and 
intelligence,  and  would  have  lived  forever.  Do 
you  imagine  that  earthly  children  are  to  become 
immortal  without  being  tempered  to  it  in  the 
fiercest  heat  of  the  fire  ?  But  you  have  ruined 
your  own  son.  For  though  he  will  be  a  strong 
man  and  a  hero  in  his  day,  yet,  on  account  of 
your  folly,  he  will  grow  old,  and  finally  die,  like 
the  sons  of  other  women.  The  weak  tender- 
ness of  his  mother  has  cost  the  poor  boy  an 
immortality.     Farewell." 

Saying  these  words,  she  kissed  the  little  Prince 
Demophoon,  and  sighed  to  think  what  he  had 
lost,  and  took  her  departure  without  heeding 
Queen  Metanira,  who  entreated  her  to  remain, 
and  cover  up  the  child  among  the  hot  embers  as 
often  as  she  pleased.  Poor  baby !  He  never 
slept  so  warmly  again. 

While  she  dwelt  in  the  king's  palace.  Mother 
Ceres  had  been  so  continually  occupied  with 
taking  care  of  the  young  prince,  that  her  heart 
was  a  little  lightened  of  its  grief  for  Proserpina 


256  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

But  now,  having  nothing  else  to  busy  herself 
about,  she  became  just  as  wretched  as  before. 
At  length,  in  her  despair,  she  came  to  the  dread- 
ful resolution  that  not  a  stalk  of  grain,  nor  a 
blade  of  grass,  not  a  potato,  nor  a  turnip,  nor 
any  other  vegetable  that  was  good  for  man  or 
beast  to  eat,  should  be  suffered  to  grow  until  her 
daughter  were  restored.  She  even  forbade  the 
flowers  to  bloom,  lest  somebody's  heart  should 
be  cheered  by  their  beauty. 

Now,  as  not  so  much  as  a  head  of  asparagus 
ever  presumed  to  poke  itself  out  of  the  ground, 
without  the  especial  permission  of  Ceres,  you 
may  conceive  what  a  terrible  calamity  had 
here  fallen  upon  the  earth.  The  husbandmen 
ploughed  and  planted  as  usual ;  but  there  lay 
the  rich  black  furrows,  all  as  barren  as  a  desert 
of  sand.  The  pastures  looked  as  brown  in  the 
sweet  month  of  June  as  ever  they  did  in  chill 
November.  The  rich  man's  broad  acres  and 
the  cottager's  small  garden  patch  wore  equally 
blighted.  Every  little  girl's  flower  bed  showed 
nothing  but  dry  stalks.  The  old  people  shook 
their  white  heads,  and  said  that  the  earth  had 
grown  aged  like  themselves,  and  was  no  longei 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  257 

capable  of  wearing  the  warm  smile  of  summer 
on  its  face.  It  was  really  piteous  to  see  the  poor, 
starving  cattle  and  sheep,  how  they  followed 
behind  Ceres,  lowing  and  bleating,  as  if  their 
instinct  taught  them  to  expect  help  from  her; 
and  every  body  that  was  acquainted  with  her 
power  besought  her  to  have  mercy  on  the  human 
race,  .and,  at  all  events,  to  let  the  grass  grow. 
But  Mother  Ceres,  though  naturally  of  an  affec- 
tionate disposition,  was  now  inexorable. 

''  Never,"  said  she.  "  If  the  earth  is  ever  again 
to  see  any  verdure,  it  must  first  grow  along  the 
path  which  my  daughter  will  tread  in  coming 
back  to  me." 

Finally,  as  there  seemed  to  be  no  other  rem- 
edy, our  old  friend  Quicksilver  was  sent  post 
haste  to  King  Pluto,  in  hopes  that  he  might  be 
persuaded  to  undo  the  mischief  he  had  done, 
and  to  set  every  thing  right  again,  by  giving  up 
Proserpina.  Quicksilver  accordingly  made  the 
best  of  his  way  to  the  great  gate,  took  a  flying 
leap  right  over  the  three-headed  mastiff,  and 
stood  at  the  door  of  the  palace  in  an  inconceiv- 
ably short  time.  The  servants  knew  him  both 
by  his  face  and  garb ;  for  his  short  cloak,  and  his 
17 


258  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

winged  cap  and  shoes,  and  his  snaky  staff  had 
often  been  seen  thereabouts  in  times  gone  by. 
He  requested  to  be  shown  immediately  into  the 
king's  presence  ;  and  Pluto,  who  heard  his  voice 
from  the  top  of  the  stairs,  and  who  loved  to  rec- 
reate himself  with  Quicksilver's  merry  talk, 
called  out  to  him  to  come  up.  And  while  they 
settle  their  business  together,  we  must  inquire 
what  Proserpina  has  been  doing  ever  since  we 
saw  her  last. 

The  child  had  declared,  as  you  may  rememberj 
that  she  would  not  taste  a  mouthful  of  food  as 
long  as  she  should  be  compelled  to  remain  in 
King  Pluto's  palace.  How^  she  contrived  to 
maintain  her  resolution,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  keep  herself  tolerably  plump  and  rosy,  is  more 
than  I  can  explain  ;  but  some  young  ladies,  I  am 
given  to  understand,  possess  the  faculty  of  living 
on  air,  and  Proserpina  seems  to  have  possessed 
it  too.  At  any  rate,  it  was  now  six  months 
since  she  left  the  outside  of  the  earth  ;  and  not 
a  morsel,  so  far  as  the  attendants  were  able  to 
testify,  had  yet  passed  between  her  teeth.  This 
was  the  more  creditable  to  Proserpina,  inasmuch 
as  King  Pluto  had  caused  her   to  be  tempted 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  259 

day  after  day,  with  all  manner  of  sweetmeats, 
and  richly-preserved  fruits,  and  delicacies  of  every 
sort,  such  as  young  people  are  generally  most 
fond  of.  But  her  good  mother  had  often  told 
her  of  the  hurtfulness  of  these  things  ;  and  for 
that  reason  alone,  if  there  had  been  no  other,  she 
would  have  resolutely  refused  to  taste  them. 

All  this  time,  being  of  a  cheerful  and  active 
disposition,  the  little  damsel  was  not  quite  so 
unhappy  as  you  may  have  supposed.  The  im- 
mense palace  had  a  thousand  rooms,  and  was 
full  of  beautiful  and  wonderful  objects.  There 
was  a  never-ceasing  gloom,  it  is  true,  which  half 
hid  itself  among  the  innumerable  pillars,  gliding 
before  the  child  as  she  wandered  among  them,  and 
treading  stealthily  behind  her  in  the  echo  of  her 
footsteps.  Neither  was  all  the  dazzle  of  the  pre- 
cious stones,  which  flamed  with  their  own  light, 
worth  one  gleam  of  natural  sunshine;  nor  could 
the  most  brilliant  of  the  many-colored  gems, 
which  Proserpina  had  for  playthings,  vie  with 
the  simple  beauty  of  the  flowers  she  used  to 
gather.  But  still,  wherever  the  girl  went,  among 
those  gilded  halls  and  chambers,  it  seemed  as  if 
sne  carried  nature  and  sunshine  along  with  her, 


260  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

and  as  if  she  scattered  dewy  blossoms  on  her 
right  hand  and  on  her  left.  After  Proseipina 
came,  the  palace  was  no  longer  the  same  abode 
of  stately  artifice  and  dismal  magnificence  that 
it  had  before  been.  The  inhabitants  all  felt  this, 
and  King  Pluto  more  than  any  of  them. 

"  My  own  little  Proserpina,"  he  used  to  say, 
"  I  wish  you  could  like  me  a  little  better.  We 
gloomy  and  cloudy-natm-ed  persons  have  often  as 
warm  hearts,  at  bottom,  as  those  of  a  more 
cheerful  character.  If  you  would  only  stay  with 
me  of  your  own  accord,  it  would  make  me  hap- 
pier than  the  possession  of  a  hundred  such  pal- 
aces as  this." 

"  Ah,"  said  Proserpina,  "  you  should  have  tried 
to  make  me  like  you  before  carrying  me  off. 
And  the  best  thing  you  can  now  do  is,  to  let  me 
go  again.  Tiien  I  might  remember  you  some- 
times, and  think  that  you  were  as  kind  as  you 
knew  how  to  be.  Perhaps,  too,  one  day  or 
other,  I  might  come  back,  and  pay  you  a  visit." 

"  No,  no,"  answered  Pluto,  with  his  gloomy 
smile,  "  I  will  not  trust  you  for  that.  You  are 
too  fond  of  living  in  the  broad  daylight,  and 
gathering  flowers.     What  an   idle  and   childish 


TFIE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  261 

taste  that  is  !  Are  not  these  gems,  which  I  have 
ordered  to  be  dug  for  you,  and  which  are  richer 
than  any  in  my  crown  —  are  they  not  prettier 
than  a  violet?" 

"  Not  half  so  pretty,"  said  Proserpina,  snatch- 
ing the  gems  from  Pluto's  hand,  and  flinging 
them  to  the  other  end  of  the  hall.  "  O  my 
sweet  violets,  shall  I  never  see  you  again  ?  " 

And  then  she  burst  into  tears.  But  young 
people's  tears  have  very  little  saltness  or  acidity 
in  them,  and  do  not  inflame  the  eyes  so  much  as 
those  of  grown  persons ;  so  that  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  if,  a  few  moments  afterwards, 
Proserpina  was  sporting  th'rough  the  hall  almost 
as  merrily  as  she  and  the  four  sea  nymphs  had 
sported  along  the  edge  of  the  surf  wave.  King 
Pluto  gazed  after  her,  and  wished  that  he,  too, 
was  a  child.  And  little  Proserpina,  when  she 
turned  about,  and  beheld  this  gri^at  king  stand- 
ing in  his  splendid  hall,  and  looking  so  grand, 
and  so  melancholy,  and  so  lonesome,  was  smit- 
ten with  a  kind  of  piiy.  She  ran  back  to  him, 
and,  for  the  firsi:  time  in  all  her  life,  put  her 
small,  soft  hand  in  his. 

"  I  love  you  a  little,"  whispered  she,  looking 
up  in  his  face. 


262  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

"  Do  you,  indeed,  my  dear  child  ?  "  cried  Pluto^ 
bending  his  dark  face  down  to  kiss  her;  but 
Proserpina  shrank  away  from  the  kiss,  for, 
though  his  features  were  noble,  they  were  very 
dusky  and  grim.  "  Well,  I  have  not  deserved  it 
of  you,  after  keeping  you  a  prisoner  for  so  many 
months,  and  starving  you,  besides.  Are  you  not 
terribly  hungry  ?  Is  there  nothing  which  I  can 
get  you  to  eat?" 

In  asking  this  question,  the  king  of  the  mines 
had  a  very  cunning  purpose  ;  for,  you  will  recol- 
lect, if  Proserpina  tasted  a  morsel  of  food  in  his 
dominions,  she  would  never  afterwards  be  at 
liberty  to  quit  them. 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Proserpina.  "  Your  head 
cook  is  always  baking,  and  stewing,  and  roast- 
ing, and  rolling  out  paste,  and  contriving  one 
dish  or  another,  which  he  imagines  may  be  to 
my  liking.  Bat  he  might  just  as  well  save  him- 
self the  trouble,  poor,  fat  little  man  that  he  is.  I 
have  no  appetite  for  any  thing  in  the  world,  un- 
less it  were  a  slice  of  bread,  of  my  mother's  own 
baking,  or  a  little  fruit  out  of  her  garden." 

When  Pluto  heard  this,  he  began  to  see  that 
he   had   mistaken  the  best  method  of  tempting 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS^  263 

Proserpina  to  eat.  The  cook's  made  dishes  and 
artificial  dainties  were  not  half  so  delicious,  in 
the  good  child's  opinion,  as  the  simple  fare  to 
which  Mother  Ceres  had  accustomed  her.  Won- 
dering that  he  had  never  thought  of  it  before, 
the  king  now  sent  one  of  his  trusty  attendants, 
with  a  large  basket,  to  get  some  of  the  finest  and 
juiciest  pears,  peaches,  and  plums  which  could 
any  where  be  found  in  the  upper  world.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  this  was  during  the  time 
when  Ceres  had  forbidden  any  fruits  or  vegeta- 
bles to  grow ;  and,  after  seeking  all  over  the 
earth.  King  Pluto's  servant  found  only  a  single 
pomegranate,  and  that  so  dried  up  as  to  be  not 
worth  eating.  Nevertheless,  since  there  was  no 
better  to  be  had,  he  brought  this  dry,  old,  with- 
ered pomegranate  home  to  the  palace,  put  it  on 
a  magnificent  golden  salver,  and  carried  it 
up  to  Proserpina.  Now,  it  happened,  curiously 
enough,  that,  just  as  the  servant  was  bringing 
the  pomegranate  into  the  back  door  of  the  palace, 
our  friend  Quicksilver  had  gone  up  the  front 
steps,  on  his  errand  to  get  Proserpina  away  from 
King  Pluto. 

As  soon  as  Proserpina  saw  the  pomegranate 


264  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

on  the  golden  salver,  she  told  the  servant  he 
had  better  take  it  away  again. 

"  I  shall  not  touch  it,  I  assure  you,"  said  she. 
*'  If  I  were  ever  so  hungry,  I  should  never  think 
of  eating  such  a  miserable,  dry  pomegranate  as 
that." 

*'  It  is  the  only  one  in  the  world,"  said  the 
servant. 

He  set  down  the  golden  salver,  with  the  wizened 
pomegranate  upon  it,  and  left  the  room.  When 
he  was  gone,  Proserpina  could  not  help  coming 
close  to  the  table,  and  looking  at  this  poor  speci- 
men of  dried  fruit  with  a  great  deal  of  eagerness; 
for,  to  say  the  truth,  on  seeing  something  that 
suited  her  taste,  she  felt  all  the  six  months'  appe- 
tite taking  possession  of  her  at  once.  To  be 
sure,  it  was  a  very  wretched-looking  pomegran- 
ate, and  seemed  to  have  no  more  juice  in  it  than 
an  oyster  shell.  But  there  was  no  choice  of 
such  things  in  King  Pluto's  palace.  This  was 
the  first  fruit  she  had  seen  there,  and  the  last  she 
was  ever  likely  to  see  ;  and  unless  she  ate  it  up 
immediately,  it  would  grow  drier  than  it  already 
was,  and  be  wholly  unfit  to  cat. 

"  At  least,  I  may  smell  it,"  thought  Proserpina. 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 


265 


So  she  took  up  the  pomegranate,  and  applied 
it  to  her  nose  ;  and,  somehow  or  other,  being  in 
such  close  neighborhood  to  her  mouth,  the  fruit 
found  its  way  into  that  little  red  cave.  Dear 
me!  what  an  everlasting  pity!  Before  Proser- 
pina knew  what  she  was  about,  her  teeth  had 
actually  bitten  it,  of  their  own  accord.  Just  as 
this  fatal  deed  was  done,  the .  door  of  the  apart- 
ment opened,  and  in  came  King  Pluto,  followed 
by  Quicksilver,  who  had  been  urging  him  to  let 
his  little  prisoner  go.  At  the  first  noise  of  their 
entrance,  Proserpina  withdrew  the  pomegranate 
from  her  mouth.  But  Quicksilver  (whose  eyes 
were  very  keen,  and  his  wits  the  sharpest  that 
ever  any  body  had)  perceived  that  the  child  was 
a  little  confused  ;  and  seeing  the  empty  salver, 
he  suspected  that  she  had  been  taking  a  sly 
nibble  of  something  or  other.  As  for  honest 
Pluto,  he  never  guessed  at  the  secret. 

"  My  little  Proserpina,"  said  the  king,  sitting 
down,  and  affectionately  drawing  her  between 
his  knees,  "here  is  Quicksilver,  who  tells  me 
that  a  great  many  misfortunes  have  befallen  in- 
nocent people  on  account  of  my  detaining  you 
in  my  dominions.     To  confess  the  truth,  I  my- 


266  THE    rOMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

self  had  already  reflected  that  it  was  an  unjusti- 
fiable act  to  take  you  away  from  your  good 
mother.  But,  then,  you  must  consider,  my  dear 
child,  that  this  vast  palace  is  apt  to  be  gloomy, 
(although  the  precious  stones  certainly  shine  very 
bright,)  and  that  I  am  not  of  the  most  cheerful 
disposition,  and  that  therefore  it  was  a  natural 
thing  enough  to  seek  for  the  society  of  some 
merrier  creature  than  myself.  I  hoped  you 
would  take  my  crown  for  a  plaything,  and  me  — 
ah,  you  laugh,  naughty  Proserpina  —  me,  grim 
as  I  am,  for  a  playmate.  It  was  a  silly  ex- 
pectation." 

"  Not  so  extremely  silly,"  whispered  Proser- 
pina. "  You  have  really  amused  me  very  much, 
sometimes." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  King  Pluto,  rather  dryly. 
"  But  I  can  see,  plainly  enough,  that  you  think 
my  palace  a  dusky  prison,  and  me  the  iron- 
hearted  keeper  of  it.  And  an  iron  heart  I  should 
surely  have,  if  I  could  detain  you  here  any 
longer,  my  poor  child,  when  it  is  now  six  months 
since  you  tasted  food.  I  give  you  your  liberty. 
Go  with  Quicksilver.  Hasten  home  to  your 
dear  mother." 


THE    POMEGRANATK    SEEDS.  267 

Now,  although  yon  may  not  have  supposed 
t,  Proserpina  found  it  impossible  to  take  leave 
of  })oor  King  Pluto  without  some  regrets,  and 
a  good  deal  of  compunction  for  not  telling  him 
about  the  pomegranate.  She  even  shed  a  tear 
or  two,  thinking  how  lonely  and  cheerless  the 
great  palace  would  seem  to  him,  with  all  its 
ugly  glare  of  artificial  light,  after  she  herself — 
his  one  little  ray  of  natural  sunshine,  whom  he 
had  stolen,  to  be  sure,  but  only  because  he 
valued  her  so  much  —  after  she  should  have  de- 
parted. I  know  not  how  many  kind  things  she 
might  have  said  to  the  disconsolate  king  of  the 
mines,  had  not  Quicksilver  hurried  her  away. 

"  Come  along  quickly,"  whispered  he  in  her 
ear,  "  or  his  majesty  may  change  his  royal  mind. 
And  take  care,  above  all  things,  that  you  say 
nothing  of  what  was  brought  you  on  the  golden 
salver." 

In  a  very  short  time,  they  had  passed  the  great 
gateway,  (leaving  the  three-headed  Cerberus, 
barking,  and  yelping,  and  growling,  with  three- 
fold din,  behind  them,)  and  emerged  upon  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  It  was  delightful  to  behold, 
as  Proserpina  hastened  along,  how  the  path  grew 


268  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

verdant  behind  and  on  either  side  of  her.  Wher- 
ever she  set  her  blessed  foot,  there  was  at  once 
a  dewy  flower.  The  violets  gushed  up  along 
the  wayside.  The  grass  and  the  grain  began  to 
sprout  with  tenfold  vigor  and  luxuriance,  to 
make  up  for  the  dreary  months  that  had  been 
wasted  in  barrenness.  The  starved  cattle  imme- 
diately set  to  work  grazing,  after  their  long  fast, 
and  ate  enormously,  all  day,  and  got  up  at  mid- 
night to  eat  more.  But  I  can  assure  you  it  was 
a  busy  time  of  year  with  the  farmers,  when  they 
found  the  summer  coming  upon  them  with  such 
a  rush.  Nor  must  I  forget  to  say,  that  all  the 
birds  in  the  whole  world  hopped  about  upon  the 
newly-blossoming  trees,  and  sang  together,  in  a 
prodigious  ecstasy  of  joy. 

Mother  Ceres  had  returned  to  her  deserted 
home,  and  was  sitting  disconsolately  on  the  door- 
step, with  her  torch  burning  in  her  hand.  She 
had  been  idly  watching  the  flame  for  some  mo- 
ments past,  when,  all  at  once,  it  flickered  and 
went  out. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  '"  thought  she.  "  It 
was  an  enchanted  torch,  and  should  have  kept 
burning  till  my  child  came  back." 


THE    POMEC   .{ANATE    SEEDS.  269 

Lifting  her  eyes,  she  was  surprised  to  see  a 
sudden  verdure  flashing  over  the  brown  and 
barren  fields,  exactly  as  you  may  have  observed 
a  golden  hue  gleaming  far  and  wide  across  the 
landscape,  from  the  just  risen  sun. 

"  Does  the  earth  disobey  me  ? "  exclaimed 
Mother  Ceres,  indignantly.  "  Does  it  presume 
to  be  green,  when  I  have  bidden  it  be  barren, 
until  my  daughter  shall  be  restored  to  my 
arms  ?  " 

"  Then  open  yom  arms,  dear  mother,"  cried  a 
well-known  voice,  "  and  take  your  little  daugh- 
ter into  them." 

And  Proserpina  came  running,  and  flung  her- 
self upon  her  mother's  bosom.  Their  mutual 
transport  is  not  to  be  described.  The  grief 
of  their  separation  had  caused  both  of  them  to 
shed  a  great  many  tears ;  and  now  they  shed 
a  great  many  more,  because  their  joy  could  not 
so  well  express  itself  in  any  other  way. 

When  their  hearts  had  grown  a  little  more 
quiet.  Mother  Ceres  looked  anxiously  at  Pro- 
serpina. 

"  My  child,"  said  she,  "  did  you  taste  any  food 
while  you  were  in  King  Pluto's  palace  ? " 


270  THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS. 

"  Dearest  mother,"  answered  Proserpina,  "  ] 
will  tell  you  the  whole  truth.  Until  this  very 
morning,  not  a  morsel  of  food  had  passed  my 
lips.  But  to-day,  they  brought  me  a  pome- 
granate, (a  very  dry  one  it  was,  and  all  shriv- 
elled up,  till  there  was  little  left  of  it  but  seeds 
and  skin,)  and  having  seen  no  fruit  for  so  long  a 
time,  and  being  faint  with  hunger,  I  was  tempted 
just  to  bite  it.  The  instant  I  tasted  it,  King 
Pluto  and  Quicksilver  came  into  the  room.  I 
had  not  swallowed  a  morsel ;  but  —  dear  mother, 
I  hope  it  was  no  harm  —  but  six  of  the  pome- 
granate seeds,  I  am  afraid,  remained  in  my 
mouth." 

"  Ah,  unfortunate  child,  and  miserable  me!" 
exclaimed  Ceres.  "  For  each  of  those  six  pome- 
granate seeds  you  nmst  spend  one  month  of 
every  year  in  King  Pluto's  palace.  You  are  but 
half  restored  to  your  mother.  Only  six  months 
with  me,  and  six  with  that  good-for-nothing 
King  of  Darkness  I" 

"  Do  not  speak  so  harshly  of  poor  King  Pluto," 
said  Proserpina,  kissing  her  mother.  "  He  ha? 
some  very  good  qualities ;  and  I  really  think  J 
can  bear  to  spend  six  niopths  in  his  palace,  if  he 


THE    POMEGRANATE    SEEDS.  271 

will  only  let  me  spend  the  other  six  with  you. 
He  certainly  did  very  wrong  to  carry  me  off;  but 
then,  as  he  says,  it  was  but  a  dismal  sort  of  life 
for  him,  to  live  in  that  great  gloomy  place,  all 
alone ;  and  it  has  made  a  wonderful  change  in 
his  spirits  to  have  a  little  girl  to  run  up  stairs 
and  down.  There  is  some  comfort  in  making 
him  so  happy ;  and  so,  upon  the  whole,  dearest 
mother,  let  us  be  thankful  that  he  is  not  to  keep 
me  the  whole  year  round." 


272  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE 


When  Jason,  the  son  of  the  dethroned  King 
of  lolchos,  was  a  little  boy,  he  was  sent  away 
from  his  parents,  and  placed  under  the  queerest 
schoolmaster  that  ever  you  heard  of.  This 
[earned  person  was  one  of  the  people,  or  quadru- 
peds, called  Centaurs.  He  lived  in  a  cavern, 
and  had  the  body  and  legs  of  a  white  horse, 
with  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  man.  His 
name  was  Chiron  ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  odd  ap- 
pearance, he  w^as  a  very  excellent  teacher,  and 
had  several  scholars,  who  afterwards  did  him 
credit  by  making  a  great  figure  in  the  w^orld. 
The  famous  Hercules  was  one,  and  so  was 
Achilles,  and  Philoctetes,  likewise,  and  ^scula- 
pius,  who  acquired  immense  repute  as  a  doctor. 
The  good  Chiron  taught  his  pupils  how  to  play 
upon  the  harp,  and   how  to  cure  diseases,  and 


Chiron  and  Jason 


p    272. 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  273 

how  to  use  the  sword  and  shield,  together  with 
various  other  branches  of  education,  in  which 
the  lads  of  those  days  used  to  be  instructed,  in- 
stead of  writing  and  arithmetic. 

I  have  sometimes  suspected  that  Master  Chi- 
ron was  not  really  very  different  from  other  peo- 
ple, but  that,  being  a  kind-hearted  and  merry  old 
fellow,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  believe  that 
he  was  a  horse,  and  scrambling  about  the  school 
room  on  all  fours,  and  letting  the  little  boys  ride 
upon  his  back.     And  so,  when  his  scholars  had 
grown   up,    and   grown   old,  and  were  trotting 
their   grandchildren    on   their   knees,   they   told 
them  about  the  sports  of  their  school  days ;  and 
these  young  folks  took  the  idea  that  their  grand 
fathers  had  been  taught  their  letters  by  a  Cen 
taur,  half  man  and  half  horse.     Little  children 
not  quite  understanding  what  is  said  to  them 
often  get  such  absurd  notions  into  their  heads 
you  know. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  has  always  been  told  for 
a  fact,  (and  always  will  be  told,  as  long  as  the 
world  lasts,)  that  Chiron,  with  the  head  of  a 
schoolmaster,  had  the  body  and  legs  of  a  horse. 
Just  imagine  the  grave  old  gentleman  clattering 
18 


274  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

and  stamping  into  the  school  room  on  his  four 
hoofs,  perhaps  treading  on  some  little  fellow's 
toes,  flourishing  his  switch  tail  instead  of  a  rod, 
and,  now  and  then,  trotting  out  of  doors  to  eat 
a  mouthful  of  grass  !  I  wonder  what  the  black- 
smith charged  him  for  a  set  of  iron  shoes. 

So  Jason  dwelt  in  the  cave,  with  this  four- 
footed  Chiron,  from  the  time  that  he  was  an 
infant,  only  a  few  months  old,  until  he  had 
grown  to  the  full  height  of  a  man.  He  became 
a  very  good  harper,  I  suppose,  and  skilful  in  the 
use  of  weapons,  and  tolerably  acquainted  with 
herbs  and  other  doctor's  stuff,  and,  above  all,  an 
admirable  horseman  ;  for,  in  teaching  young 
people  to  ride,  the  good  Chiron  must  have  been 
without  a  rival  among  schoolmasters.  At  length, 
being  now  a  tall  and  athletic  youth,  Jason  re- 
solved to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  world,  without 
asking  Chiron's  advice,  or  telling  him  any  thing 
about  the  matter.  This  was  very  unwise,  to  be 
sure  ;  and  I  hope  none  of  you,  my  little  hearers, 
will  ever  follow  Jason's  example.  But,  you  arc 
to  understand,  he  had  heard  how  that  he  himself 
was  a  prince  royal,  and  how  his  father,  King 
>^son,  had   bi'cn   deprived   of    the   kingdom   of 


THE    GOLDEN     FLEECE.  275 

lolchos  by  a  certain  Pelias,  who  would  also  have 
killed  Jason,  had  he  not  been  hidden  in  the  Cen- 
taur's cave.  And,  being  come  to  the  strength  of 
a  man,  Jason  determined  to  set  all  this  business 
to  rights,  and  to  punish  the  wicked  Pelias  for 
wronging  his  dear  father,  and  to  cast  him  down 
from  the  throne,  and  seat  himself  there  instead. 

With  this  intention,  he  took  a  spear  in  each 
hand,  and  threw  a  leopard's  skin  over  his  shoul- 
ders, to  keep  off  the  rain,  and  set  forth  on  his 
travels,  with  his  long  yellow  ringlets  waving  in 
the  wiru:!.  The  part  of  his  dress  on  which  he 
most  prided  himself  was  a  pair  of  sandals,  that 
had  been  his  father's.  They  were  handsomely 
embroidered,  and  were  tied  upon  his  feet  with 
strings  of  gold.  But  his  whole  attire  was  such 
as  people  did  not  very  often  see ;  and  as  he 
passed  along,  the  women  and  children  ran  to 
the  doors  and  windows,  wondering  whither  this 
beautiful  youth  was  journeying,  with  his  leop- 
ard's skin  and  his  golden-tied  sandals,  and  what 
heroic  deeds  he  meant  to  perform,  with  a  spear 
in  his  right  hand  and  another  in  his  left. 

I  know  not  how  far  Jason  had  travelled,  when 
he  came  to  a  tm*bulent  river,  which  rushed  right 


276  THE    GOLDKN     FLKTCE. 

across  his  pathway,  with  specks  of  white  foam 
among  its  black  eddies,  hurrying  tiimultuously 
onward,  and  roaring  angrily  as  it  went.  Though 
not  a  very  broad  river  in  the  dry  seasons  of  the 
year,  it  was  now  swollen  by  heavy  rains  and  by 
the  melting  of  the  snow  on  the  sides  of  Mount 
Olympus;  and  it  thundered  so  loudly,  and  looked 
so  wild  and  dangerous,  that  Jason,  bold  as  he 
was,  thought  it  prudent  to  pause  upon  the  brink. 
The  bed  of  the  stream  seemed  to  be  strewn  with 
sharp  and  rugged  rocks,  some  of  which  thrust 
themselves  above  the  water.  By  and  by,  an  up- 
rooted tree,  with  shattered  branches,  came  drift- 
ing along  the  current,  and  got  entangled  among 
the  rocks.  Now  and  then,  a  drowned  sheep,  and 
once  the  carcass  of  a  cow,  floated  past. 

In  short,  the  swollen  river  had  already  done  a 
great  deal  of  mischief.  It  was  evidently  too 
deep  for  Jason  to  wade,  and  too  loisterous  for 
him  to  swim ;  he  could  see  no  bridge ;  and  as 
for  a  boat,  had  there  been  any,  the  rocks  would 
have  broken  it  to  pieces  in  an  instant. 

"  See  the  poor  lad,"  said  a  cracked  voice  close 
to  his  side.  "  He  must  have  had  but  a  poor  ed- 
ucation, since  he  does  not  know  how  to  cross  a 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  277 

little  stream  like  this.  Or  is  he  afraid  of  wetting 
his  fine  golden-stringed  sandals  ?  It  is  a  pity  his 
four-footed  schoolmaster  is  not  here  to  carry  him 
safely  across  on  his  back!" 

Jason  looked  round  greatly  surprised,  for  he 
did  not  know  that  any  body  was  near.  But  be- 
side him  stood  an  old  woman,  with  a  ragged 
mantle  over  her  head,  leaning  on  a  staff,  the 
top  of  which  was  carved  into  the  shape  of  a 
cuckoo.  She  looked  very  aged,  and  wrinkled, 
and  infirm  ;  and  yet  her  eyes,  which  were  as 
brown  as  those  of  an  ox,  were  so  extremely  large 
and  beautiful,  that,  when  they  were  fixed  on  Ja- 
son's eyes,  he  could  see  nothing  else  but  them. 
The  old  woman  had  a  pomegranate  in  her  hand, 
although  the  fruit  was  then  quite  out  of  season. 

"Whither  are  you  going,  Jason? "she  now 
asked. 

She  seemed  to  know  his  name,  you  will  ob- 
serve ;  and,  indeed,  those  great  brown  eyes  looked 
as  if  they  had  a  knowledge  of  every  thing, 
whether  past  or  to  come.  "While  Jason  was 
gazing  at  her,  a  peacock  strutted  forward,  and 
took  his  stand  at  the  old  woman's  side. 

"  I  am  goi  ig  to  lolchos,"  answered  the  young 


278  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

man,  "  to  bid  the  wicked  King  Pelias  come 
down  from  my  father's  throne,  and  let  me  reign 
in  his  stead." 

"  Ah,  well,  then,"  said  the  old  woman,  still 
with  the  same  cracked  voice,  "  if  that  is  all  your 
business,  you  need  not  be  in  a  very  great  hurry. 
Just  take  me  on  your  back,  there's  a  good 
youth,  and  carry  me  across  the  river.  I  and 
my  peacock  have  something  to  do  on  the  other 
side,  as  well  as  yourself." 

"  Good  mother,"  replied  Jason,  "  your  business 
can  hardly  be  so  important  as  the  pulling  down 
a  king  from  his  throne.  Besides,  as  you  may 
see  for  yourself,  the  river  is  very  boisterous  ;  and 
if  I  should  chance  to  stumble,  it  would  sweep 
both  of  us  away  more  easily  than  it  has  carried 
off  yonder  uprooted  tree.  I  would  gladly  help 
you  if  I  could  ;  but  I  doubt  whether  I  am  strong 
enough  to  carry  you  across." 

"  Then,"  said  she,  very  scornfully,  "  neither  are 
you  strong  enough  to  pull  King  Pelias  off  his 
throne.  And,  Jason,  unless  you  will  he.p  an 
old  woman  at  her  need,  you  ought  not  to  be  a 
king.  What  are  kings  made  for,  save  to  succor 
the  feeble  and  distressed  ?     But  do  as  you  please. 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  279 

Either  take  me  on  your  back,  or  with  my  poor 
old  limbs  I  shall  try  my  best  to  struggle  across 
the  stream." 

Saying  this,  the  old  woman  poked  with  her 
staff  in  the  river,  as  if  to  find  the  safest  place  in 
its  rocky  bed  where  she  might  make  the  first  step. 
But  Jason,  by  this  time,  had  grown  ashamed  of 
his  reluctance  to  help  her.  He  felt  that  he  could 
never  forgive  himself,  if  this  poor  feeble  creature 
should  come  to  any  harm  in  attempting  to 
wrestle  against  the  headlong  current.  The  good 
Chiron,  whether  half  horse  or  no,  had  taught  him 
that  the  noblest  use  of  his  strength  was  to  assist 
the  weak  ;  and  also  that  he  must  treat  every 
young  woman  as  if  she  were  his  sister,  and 
every  old  one  like  a  mother.  Remembering 
these  maxims,  the  vigorous  and  beautiful  young 
man  knelt  down,  and  requested  the  good  dame 
to  mount  upon  his  back. 

"  The  passage  seems  to  me  not  very  safe,"  he 
remarked.  "  But  as  your  business  is  so  urgent, 
I  will  try  to  carry  you  across.  If  the  river 
sweeps  you  away,  it  shall  take  me  too." 

"  That,  no  doubt,  will  be  a  great  comfort  to 
both  of  us,"  quoth  the  old  woman.  "  But  never 
fear.     We  shall  get  safely  across." 


280  THE    GOLDi:\     FLEECE. 

So  she  threw  her  arms  around  Jason's  neck , 
and  lifting  her  from  the  ground,  he  stepped  bold- 
ly into  the  raging  and  foamy  current,  and  began 
to  stagger  away  from  the  shore.  As  for  the  pea- 
cock, it  alighted  on  the  old  dame's  shoulder. 
Jason's  two  spears,  one  in  each  hand,  kept  him 
from  stumbling,  and  enabled  him  to  feel  his  way 
among  the  hidden  rocks ;  although,  every  in- 
stant, he  expected  that  his  companion  and  him- 
self would  go  down  the  stream,  together  with 
the  driftwood  of  shattered  trees,  and  the  car- 
casses of  the  sheep  and  cow.  Down  came  the 
cold,  snowy  torrent  from  the  steep  side  of 
Olympus,  raging  and  thundering  as  if  it  had  a 
real  spite  against  Jason,  or,  at  all  events,  were 
determined  to  snatch  off  his  living  burden  from 
his  shoulders.  When  he  was  half  way  across, 
the  uprooted  tree  (tvhich  I  have  already  told  you 
about)  broke  loose  from  among  the  rocks,  and 
bore  down  upon  him,  with  all  its  splintered 
branches  sticking  out  like  the  hundred  arms  of  the 
giant  Briareus.  It  rushed  past,  however,  without 
touching  him.  But  the  ne\t  moment,  his  foot 
was  caught  in  a  crevice  between  two  rocks,  and 
stuck  there  so  fast,  that,  in  the  elTort  to  get  -free, 
he  lost  one  of  his  golden-stringed  sandals. 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  281 

At  this  accident  Jason  conld  not  help  uttering 
a  cry  of  vexation. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Jason  ?  "  asked  the  old 
woman. 

"  Matter  enough,"  said  the  young  man.  "  I 
have  lost  a  sandal  here  among  the  rocks.  And 
what  sort  of  a  figure  shall  I  cut,  at  the  court  of 
King  Pelias,  with  a  golden-stringed  sandal  on 
one  foot,  and  the  other  foot  bare  I " 

"  Do  not  take  it  to  heart,"  answered  his  com- 
panion, cheerily.  "  You  never  met  with  better 
fortune  than  in  losing  that  sandal.  It  satisfies 
me  that  you  are  the  very  person  whom  the 
Speaking  Oak  has  been  talking  about." 

There  was  no  time,  just  then,  to  inquire  what 
the  Speaking  Oak  had  said.  But  the  briskness 
of  her  tone  encouraged  the  young  man ;  and 
besides,  he  had  never  in  his  life  felt  so  vigorous 
and  mighty  as  since  taking  this  old  woman  on 
his  back.  Instead  of  being  exhausted,  he  gath- 
ered strength  as  he  went  on ;  and,  struggling  up 
against  the  torrent,  he  at  last  gained  the  oppo- 
site shore,  clambered  up  the  bank,  and  set  down 
the  old  dame  and  her  peacock  safely  on  the 
grass.     As  soon  as  this  was  done,  however,  he 


282  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

could  not  help  looking  rather  despondently  at 
his  bare  foot,  with  only  a  remnant  of  the  golden 
string  of  the  sandal  clinging  round  his  ankle. 

"  You  will  get  a  handsomer  pair  of  sandals 
by  and  by,"  said  the  old  woman,  with  a  kindly 
look  out  of  her  beautiful  brown  eyes.  "  Only 
let  King  Pelias  get  a  glimpse  of  that  bare  foot, 
and  you  shall  see  him  turn  as  pale  as  ashes,  I 
promise  you.  There  is  your  path.  Go  along, 
my  good  Jason,  and  my  blessing  go  with  you. 
And  when  you  sit  on  your  throne,  remember  the 
old  woman  whom  you  helped  over  the  river.'* 

With  these  words,  she  hobbled  away,  giving 
him  a  smile  over  her  shoulder  as  she  departed. 
Whether  the  light  of  her  beautiful  brown  eyes 
threw  a  glory  round  about  her,  or  whatever  the 
cause  might  be,  Jason  fancied  that  there  was 
something  very  noble  and  majestic  in  her  figure, 
after  all,  and  that,  though  her  gait  seemed  to  be 
a  rheumatic  hobble,  yet  she  moved  with  as  much 
grace  and  dignity  as  any  queen  on  earth.  Her 
peacock,  which  had  now  fluttered  down  from  her 
shoulder,  strutted  behind  her  in  prodigious  pomp, 
and  spread  out  its  magnificent  tail  on  purpose 
for  Jason  to  admire  it. 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  283 

When  the  old  dame  and  her  peacock  were 
out  of  sight,  Jason  set  forward  on  his  journey. 
After  travelling  a  pretty  long  distance,  he  came 
to  a  town  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain, 
and  not  a  great  way  from  the  shore  of  the  sea. 
On  the  outside  of  the  town  there  was  an  im- 
mense crowd  of  people,  not  only  men  and  wo- 
men, but  children  too,  all  in  their  best  clothes, 
and  evidently  enjoying  a  holiday.  The  crowd 
was  thickest  towards  the  sea  shore ;  and  in  that 
direction,  over  the  people's  heads,  Jason  saw  a 
wreath  of  smoke  curling  upward  to  the  blue 
sky.  He  inquired  of  one  of  the  multitude  what 
town  it  was,  near  by,  and  why  so  many  persons 
were  here  assembled  togther. 

"  This  is  the  kingdom  of  lolchos,"  answered 
the  man,  "and  we  are  the  subjects  of  King  Pe- 
lias.  Our  monarch  has  summoned  us  together, 
that  we  may  see  him  sacrifice  a  black  bull  to 
Neptune,  who,  they  say,  is  his  majesty's  father. 
Yonder  is  the  king,  where  you  see  the  smoke 
going  up  from  the  altar." 

While  the  man  spoke  he  eyed  Jason  with 
great  curiosity ;  for  his  garb  was  quite  unlike  that 
of  the  lolchians,  and  it  looked  very  odd  to  see  a 


284 


THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 


youth  with  a  leopard's  skin  over  his  shoulders, 
and  each  hand  grasping  a  spear.  Jason  per- 
ceived, too,  that  the  man  stared  particularly  at 
his  feet,  one  of  which,  you  remember,  was  bare, 
while  the  other  was  decorated  with  his  father's 
golden-stringed  sandal. 

"Look  at  him  I  only  look  at  him!"  said  the 
man  to  his  next  neighbor.  "  Do  you  see  ?  He 
wears  but  one  sandal!  " 

Upon  this,  first  one  person,  and  then  another, 
began  to  stare  at  Jason,  and  every  body  seemed 
to  be  greatly  struck  with  something  in  his  as- 
pect; though  they  turned  their  eyes  much  oftener 
towards  his  feet  than  to  any  other  part  of  his 
figure.  Besides,  he  could  hear  them  whispering 
to  one  another. 

"  One  sandal !  One  sandal !  "  they  kept  say- 
ing. "  The  man  with  one  sandal !  Here  he  is 
at  last!  Whence  has  he  come?  What  does 
he  mean  to  do  ?  What  will  the  king  say  to 
the    one-sandalled    man  ?  " 

Poor  Jason  was  greatly  abashed,  and  made  up 
his  mind  that  the  people  of  lolchos  were  exceed- 
ingly ill  bred,  to  take  such  ))nblic  notice  of  an 
accidental  deliciency  in   his  dress.      Meanwhile, 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  285 

whether  it  were  that  they  hustled  him  forward, 
or  that  Jason,  of  his  own  accord,  thrust  a  pas- 
sage through  the  crowd,  it  so  happened  that  he 
soon  found  himself  close  to  the  smoking  altar, 
where  King  Pelias  was  sacrificing  the  black  bull. 
The  murmur  and  hum  of  the  multitude,  in  their 
surprise  at  the  spectacle  of  Jason  with  his  one  bare 
foot,  grew  so  loud  that  it  disturbed  the  ceremo- 
nies ;  and  the  king,  holding  the  great  knife  with 
which  he  was  just  going  to  cut  the  bull's  throat, 
turned  angrily  about,  and  fixed  his  eyes  on 
Jason.  The  people  had  now  withdrawn  from 
around  him,  so  that  the  youth  stood  in  an  open 
space,  near  the  smoking  altar,  front  to  front  with 
the  angry  King  Pelias. 

''  Who  are  you  ?  "  cried  the  king,  with  a  ter- 
rible frown.  "  And  how  dare  you  make  this  dis- 
turbance, while  I  am  sacrificing  a  black  bull  to 
my  father  Neptune  ?  " 

"  It  is  no  fault  of  mine,"  answered  Jason. 
"  Your  majesty  must  blame  the  rudeness  of  your 
subjects,  who  have  raised  all  this  tumult  because 
one  of  my  feet  happens  to  be  bare." 

When  Jason  said  this,  the  king  gave  a  quickj 
startled  glance  down  at  his  feet. 


286  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

"  Ha  I "  muttered  he,  "  here  is  the  one-san- 
dalled  fellow,  sure  enough  I  What  can  I  do 
with  him?" 

And  he  clutched  more  closely  the  great  knife 
in  his  hand,  as  if  he  were  half  a  mind  to  slay- 
Jason,  instead  of  the  black  bull.  The  people 
round  about  caught  up  the  king's  words,  indis- 
tinctly as  they  were  uttered ;  and  first  there  was 
a  murmur  among  them,  and  then  a  loud  shout. 

"  The  one-sandalled  man  has  come !  The 
prophecy  must  be  fulfilled  I  " 

For  you  are  to  know,  that,  many  years  before, 
King  Pelias  had  been  told  by  the  Speaking  Oak 
of  Dodona,  that  a  man  with  one  sandal  should 
cast  him  down  from  his  throne.  On  this  ac- 
count, he  had  given  strict  orders  that  nobody 
should  ever  come  into  his  presence,  unless  both 
sandals  were  securely  tied  upon  his  feet;  and 
he  kept  an  officer  in  his  palace,  whose  sole  busi- 
ness it  was  to  examine  people's  sandals,  and  to 
supply  them  with  a  new  pair,  at  the  expense  of 
the  royal  treasury,  as  soon  as  the  old  ones  began 
to  wear  out.  In  the  whole  course  of  the  king's 
reign,  he  had  never  been  thrown  into  such  a 
fright  and  agitation  as   by  the  spectacle  of  poor 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  287 

Jason's  bare  foot.  But,  as  he  was  naturally  a 
bold  and  hard-hearted  man,  he  soon  took  cour- 
age, and  began  to  consider  in  what  way  he  might 
rid  himself  of  this  terrible  one-sandalled  stranger. 

"  My  good  young  man,"  said  King  Pelias,  tak- 
ing the  softest  tone  imaginable,  in  order  to  throw 
Jason  off  his  guard,  "  you  are  excessively  wel- 
come to  my  kingdom.  Judging  by  your  dress, 
you  must  have  travelled  a  long  distance  ;  for  it 
is  not  the  fashion  to  wear  leopard  skins  in  this 
part  of  the  world.  Pray  what  may  I  call  your 
name?  and  where  did  you  receive  your  educa- 
tion ?  " 

"  My  name  is  Jason,"  answered  the  young 
stranger.  "  Ever  since  my  infancy,  I  have  dwelt 
in  the  cave  of  Chiron  the  Centaur.  He  was  my 
instructor,  and  taught  me  music,  and  horseman- 
ship, and  how  to  cure  wounds,  and  likewise  how 
to  inflict  wounds  with  my  weapons  !  " 

"  I  have  heard  of  Chiron  the  schoolmaster," 
replied  King  Pelias,  "  and  how  that  there  is  an 
immense  deal  of  learninsr  and  wisdom  in    his 

o 

head,  although  it  happens  to  be  set  on  a  horse's 
body.  It  gives  me  great  delight  to  see  one  of 
his  scholars  at  my  court.     But,  to  test  how  much 


288  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

you  have  profited  under  so  excellent  a  teacher, 
will  you  allow  me  to  ask  you  a  single  question  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  very  wise,"  said  Jason. 
"  But  ask  me  what  you  please,  and  I  will  answer 
to  the  best  of  my  ability." 

Now  King  Pelias  meant  cunningly  to  entrap 
the  young  man,  and  to  make  him  say  something 
that  should  be  the  cause  of  mischief  and  destruc- 
tion to  himself.  So,  with  a  crafty  and  evil  smile 
upon  his  face,  he  spoke  as  follows :  — 

"  What  would  you  do,  brave  Jason,"  asked  he, 
"if  there  were  a  man  in  the  world,  by  whom,  as 
you  had  reason  to  believe,  you  were  doomed  to 
be  ruined  and  slain  —  what  would  you  do,  I  say, 
if  that  man  stood  before  you,  and  in  your 
power  ?  " 

When  Jason  saw  the  malice  and  wickedness 
which  King  Pelias  could  not  prevent  from  gleam- 
ing out  of  his  eyes,  he  probably  guessed  that  the 
king  had  discovered  what  he  came  for,  and  that 
he  intended  to  turn  his  own  words  against  him- 
self. Still  he  scorned  to  tell  a  falsehood.  Like 
an  upright  and  honorable  prince,  as  he  was,  he 
determined  to  speak  out  the  real  truth.  Since 
the  king  had   chosen   to  ask   him  the   question; 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  289 

and  since  Jason  had  promised  him  an  answer 
there  was  no  right  way,  save  to  tell  him  precisely 
what  would  be  the  most  prudent  thing  to  do,  if 
he  had  his  worst  enemy  in  his  power. 

Therefore,  after  a  moment's  consideration,  he 
spoke  up,  with  a  firm  and  manly  voice. 

"  I  would  send  such  a  man,"  said  he,  "  in  quest 
of  the  Golden  Fleece  !  " 

This  enterprise,  you  will  understand,  was,  of 
all  others,  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  in  the 
world.  In  the  first  place,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  make  a  long  voyage  through  unknown  seas 
There  was  hardly  a  hope,  or  a  possibility,  that 
any  young  man  who  should  undertake  this 
voyage  would  either  succeed  in  obtaining  the 
Golden  Fleece,  or  would  survive  to  return  home, 
and  tell  of  the  perils  he  had  run..  The  eyes  of 
King  Pelias  sparkled  with  joy,  therefore,  when 
he  heard  Jason's  reply. 

"  Well  said,  wise  man  with  the  one  sandal ! " 
cried  he.  "  Go,  then,  and  at  the  peril  of  your 
life,  bring  me  back  the  Golden  Fleece." 

"  I  go,"  answered  Jason,  composedly.     "  If  I 
fail,  you  need  not  fear  that  I  will  ever  comeback 
to  trouble    ;ou  again,     ^ut  if  I  return  to  lolchos 
19 


290  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

T^dth  the  prize,  then,  King  Pclias,  you  must 
hasten  down  from  your  lofty  throne,  and  give 
me  your  crown  and  sceptre." 

"  That  I  will,"  said  the  king,  with  a  sneer. 
"  Meantime,  I  will  keep  them  very  safely  for 
you." 

The  first  thing  that  Jason  thought  of  doing, 
after  he  left  the  king's  presence,  was  to  go  to 
Dodona,  and  inquire  of  the  Talking  Oak  what 
course  it  was  best  to  pursue.  This  wonderful 
tree  stood  in  the  centre  of  an  ancient  wood.  Its 
stately  trunk  rose  up  a  hundred  feet  into  the  air, 
and  threw  a  broad  and  dense  shadow  over  more 
than  an  acre  of  ground.  Standing  beneath  it, 
Jason  looked  up  among  the  knotted  branches 
and  green  leaves,  and  into  the  mysterious  heart 
of  the  old  tree,  and  spoke  aloud,  as  if  he  were 
addressing  some  person  who  was  hidden  in  the 
depths  of  the  foliage. 

"  What  shall  I  do,"  said  he,  "  in  order  to  win 
the  Golden  Fleece?" 

At  first  there  was  a  deep  silence,  not  only 
within  the  shadow  of  the  Talking  Oak,  but  all 
through  the  solitary  wood.  In  a  moment  or  two, 
however,    the    leaves    of  the    oak  began    to    stir 


THE    GOLDEN     FLEECE. 


291 


and  rusfle,  as  if  a  gentle  breeze  were  wandering 
amongst  them,  although  the  other  trees  of  the 
wood  were  perfectly  still.  The  sound  grew 
louder,  and  became  like  the  roar  of  a  high 
wind.  By  and  by,  Jason  imagined  that  he  could 
distinguish  words,  but  very  confiisedly,  because 
each  separate  leaf  of  the  tree  seemed  to  be  a 
tongue,  and  the  whole  myriad  of  tongues  were 
babbling  at  once.  But  the  noise  waxed  broader 
and  deeper,  until  it  resembled  a  tornado  sweep- 
ing through  the  oak,  and  making  one  great 
utterance  out  of  the  thousand  and  thousand  of 
little  murmurs  which  each  leafy  tongue  had 
caused  by  its  rustling.  And  now,  though  it  still 
had  the  tone  of  a  mighty  wind  roaring  among 
the  branches,  it  was  also  like  a  deep  bass  voice, 
speaking,  as  distinctly  as  a  tree  could  be  ex- 
pected to  speak,  the  following  words :  — 

"  Go  to  Argus,  the  ship  builder,  and  bid  him 
build  a  galley  with  fifty  oars." 

Then  the  voice  melted  again  into  the  indis- 
tinct murmur  of  the  rustling  leaves,  and  died 
gradually  away.  When  it  was  quite  gone,  Ja- 
son felt  inclined  to  doubt  whether  he  had  ac- 
tually heard  the  words,  or  whether  his  fancy  had 


292  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

not  shaped  them  out  of  the  ordinary  sound  made 
by  a  breeze,  while  passing  through  the  thick 
foliage  of  the  tree. 

But  on  inquiry  among  the  people  of  lolchos, 
he  found  that  there  was  really  a  man  in  the  city, 
by  the  name  of  Argus,  who  was  a  very  skilful 
builder  of  vessels.  This  showed  some  intelli- 
gence in  the  oak ;  else  how  should  it  have 
known  that  any  such  person  existed  ?  At  Ja- 
son's request,  Argus  readily  consented  to  build 
him  a  galley  so  big  that  it  should  require  fifty 
strong  men  to  row  it ;  although  no  vessel  of  such 
a  size  and  burden  had  heretofore  been  seen  in 
the  world.  So  the  head  carpenter,  and  all  his 
journeymen  and  apprentices,  began  their  work ; 
and  for  a  good  while  afterwards,  there  they  were, 
busily  employed,  hewing  out  the  timbers,  and 
making  a  great  clatter  with  their  hammers  ;  until 
the  new  ship,  which  was  called  the  Argo,  seemed 
to  be  quite  ready  for  sea.  And,  as  the  Talking 
Oak  had  already  given  him  such  good  advice, 
Jason  thought  that  it  would  not  be  amiss  to  ask 
for  a  little  more.  He  visited  it  again,  therefore, 
and  standing  beside  its  huge,  rough  trunk,  in- 
quired what  he  should  do  next. 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  293 

This  time,  there  was  no  such  universal  quiver- 
ing of  the  leaves,  throughout  the  whole  tree,  as 
there  had  been  before.  But  after  a  while,  Jason 
observed  that  the  foliage  of  a  great  branch  which 
stretched  above  his  head  had  begun  to  rustle,  as 
if  the  wind  w^ere  stirring  that  one  bough,  while 
all  the  other  boughs  of  the  oak  were  at  rest. 

"  Cut  me  off! "  said  the  branch,  as  soon  as  it 
could  speak  distinctly  ;  "  cut  me  off!  cut  me  off! 
and  carve  me  into  a  figure  head  for  your  galley." 

Accordingly,  Jason  took  the  branch  at  its 
word,  and  lopped  it  off  the  tree.  A  carver  in 
the  neighborhood  engaged  to  make  the  figure 
head.  He  was  a  tolerably  good  workman,  and 
had  already  carved  several  figure  heads,  in  what 
he  intended  for  feminine  shapes,  and  looking 
pretty  much  like  those  which  we  see  nowadays 
stuck  up  under  a  vessel's  bowsprit,  with  great 
staring  eyes,  that  never  wink  at  tfie  dash  of  the 
spray.  But  (what  was  very  strange)  the  carver 
found  that  his  hand  was  guided  by  some  unseen 
power,  and  by  a  skill  beyond  his  own,  and  that 
his  tools  shaped  out  an  image  which  he  had 
never  dreamed  of.  When  the  work  was  finished, 
it  turned   out   to  be  the  figure   of  a   beautiful 


294  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

woman,  with  a  helmet  on  her  head,  from  beneath 
which  the  long  ringlets  fell  down  upon  her 
shoulders.  On  the  left  arm  was  a  shield,  and  in 
its  centre  appeared  a  lifelike  representation  of 
the  head  of  Medusa  with  the  snaky  locks.  The 
right  arm  was  extended,  as  if  pointing  onward. 
The  face  of  this  w^onderful  statue,  though  not 
angry  or  forbidding,  w^as  so  grave  and  majestic, 
that  perhaps  you  might  call  it  severe  ;  and  as  for 
the  mouth,  it  seemed  just  ready  to  unclose  its 
lips,  and  utter  words  of  the  deepest  wisdom. 

Jason  was  delighted  with  the  oaken  image, 
and  gave  the  carver  no  rest  until  it  was  com- 
pleted, and  set  up  where  a  figure  head  has 
always  stood,  from  that  time  to  this,  in  the  ves- 
sel's prow. 

"  And  now,"  cried  he,  as  he  stood  gazing  at 
the  calm,  majestic  face  of  the  statue,  "  I  must 
go  to  the  Talking  Oak,  and  inquire  what  next 
to  do." 

"  There  is  no  need  of  that,  Jason,"  said  a 
voice  which,  though  it  was  far  lower,  reminded 
him  of  the  mighty  tones  of  the  great  oak. 
"  When  you  desire  good  advice,  you  can  seek  it 
of  me." 


THE    OOLDI^N    FLEECE.  295 

Jason  had  been  looking  straight  into  the  face 
of  the  image  when  these  words  were  spoken. 
Bat  he  could  hardly  believe  either  his  ears  or  his 
eyes.  The  truth  was,  however,  that  the  oaken 
lips  had  moved,  and,  to  all  appearance,  the  voice 
had  proceeded  from  the  statue's  mouth.  Recov- 
ering a  little  from  his  surprise,  Jason  bethought 
himself  that  the  image  had  been  carved  out  of 
the  wood  of  the  Talking  Oak,  and  that,  there- 
fore, it  was  really  no  great  wonder,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world, 
that  it  should  possess  the  faculty  of  speech.  It 
would  have  been  very  odd,  indeed,  if  it  had  not. 
But  certainly  it  was  a  great  piece  of  good  for- 
tune that  he  should  be  able  to  carry  so  wise  a 
block  of  wood  along  with  him  in  his  perilous 
voyage. 

"  Tell  me,  wondrous  image,"  exclaimed  Jason, 
— "  since  you  inherit  the  wisdom  of  the  Speak- 
ing Oak  of  Dodona,  whose  daughter  you  are,  — 
tell  me,  where  shall  I  find  fifty  bold  youths,  who 
will  take  each  of  them  an  oar  of  my  galley  ? 
They  must  have  sturdy  arms  to  row,  and  brave 
hearts  to  encounter  perils,  or  we  shall  never  win 
the  Golden  Fleece." 


296  THE    GOIi[JP:N     FLEECE. 

"Go,"'  replied  the  oaken  image,  "go,  sum- 
mon all  the  heroes  of  Greece." 

And,  in  fact,  considering  what  a  great  deed 
was  to  be  done,  could  any  advice  be  wiser  than 
this  which  Jason  received  from  the  figure  head 
of  his  vessel  ?  He  lost  no  time  in  sending  mes- 
sengers to  all  the  cities,  and  making  known  to 
the  whole  people  of  Greece,  that  Prince  Jason, 
the  son  of  King  ^Eson,  was  going  in  quest  of 
the  Fleece  of  Gold,  and  that  he  desired  the  help 
of  forty-nine  of  the  bravest  and  strongest  young 
men  alive,  to  row  his  vessel  and  share  his  dan 
gers.     And  Jason  himself  would  be  the  fiftieth. 

At  this  news,  the  adventurous  youths,  all  over 
the  country,  began  to  bestir  themselves.  Some 
of  them  had  already  fought  with  giants,  and 
slain  dragons  ;  and  the  younger  ones,  who  had 
not  yet  met  with  such  good  fortune,  thought 
it  a  shame  to  have  lived  so  long  without  getting 
astride  of  a  flying  serpent,  or  sticking  their 
soears  into  a  Chimaera,  or,  at  least,  thrusting  their 
right  arms  down  a  monstrous  lion's  throat. 
There  was  a  fair  prospect  that  they  would  meet 
with  plenty  of  such  adventures  before  finding 
the  Golden  Fleece.     As  soon  as  they  could  fur- 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 


297 


bish  up  their  helmets  and  shields,  therefore,  and 
gird  on  their  trusty  swords,  they  came  thronging 
to  lolchos,  and  clambered  on  board  the  new  gal- 
ley. Shaking  hands  with  Jason,  they  assured 
him  that  they  did  not  care  a  pin  for  their  lives, 
but  would  help  row  the  vessel  to  the  remotest 
edge  of  the  world,  and  as  much  farther  as  he 
might  think  it  best  to  go. 

Many  of  these  brave  fellows  had  been  edu- 
cated by  Chiron,  the  four-footed  pedagogue,  and 
were  therefore  old  schoolmates  of  Jason,  and 
knew  him  to  be  a  lad  of  spirit.  The  mighty 
Hercules,  whose  shoulders  afterwards  held  up 
the  sky,  was  one  of  them.  And  there  were 
Castor  and  Pollux,  the  twin  brothers,  who 
were  never  accused  of  being  chicken-hearted, 
although  they  had  been  hatched  out  of  an  egg ; 
and  Theseus,  who  was  so  renowned  for  killing 
the  Minotaur;  and  Lynceus,  with  his  wonder- 
fully sharp  eyes,  which  could  see  through  a  mill- 
stone, or  look  right  down  into  the  depths  of  the 
earth,  and  discover  the  treasures  that  were  there  • 
and  Orpheus,  the  very  best  of  harpers,  who  sang 
and  played  upon  his  lyre  so  sweetly,  that  the 
brute   beasts   stood   upon   their   hind  legs,   and 


298  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

capered  merrily  to  the  music.  Yes,  and  at  some 
of  his  more  moving  tunes,  the  rocks  bestirred 
their  moss-grown  bulk  out  of  the  ground,  and  a 
grove  of  forest  trees  uprooted  themselves,  and, 
nodding  their  tops  to  one  another,  performed  a 
country  dance. 

One  of  the  rowers  was  a  beautiful  young 
woman,  named  Atalanta,  who  had  been  nursed 
among  the  mountains  by  a  bear.  So  light  of 
foot  was  this  fair  damsel,  that  she  could  step 
from  one  foamy  crest  of  a  wave  to  the  foamy 
crelt  of  another,  without  wetting  more  than 
the  sole  of  her  sandal.  She  had  grown  up 
in  a  very  wild  way,  and  talked  much  about 
the  rights  of  women,  and  loved  hunting  and 
war  far  better  than  her  needle.  But,  in  my 
opinion,  the  most  remarkable  of  this  famous 
company  were  two  sons  of  the  North  Wind, 
(airy  youngsters,  and  of  rather  a  blustering  dis- 
position,) who  had  wings  on  their  shoulders, 
and,  in  case  of  a  calm,  could  puff  out  their 
cheeks,  and  blow  almost  as  fresh  a  breeze  as 
their  father.  I  ought  not  to  forget  the  prophets 
and  conjurers,  of  whom  there  were  several  in 
the   crew,  and  who  could    foretell  what  would 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  299 

happen  to-morrow,  or  the  next  day,  or  a  hundred 
years  hence,  but  were  generally  quite  uncon- 
scious  of  what  was  passing  at   the  moment. 

Jason  appointed  Tiphys  to  be  helmsman,  be- 
cause he  was  a  star-gazer,  and  knew  the  points 
of  the  compass.  Lynceus,  on  account  of  his 
sharp  sight,  was  stationed  as  a  lookout  in  the 
prow,  where  he  saw  a  whole  day's  sail  ahead, 
but  was  rather  apt  to  overlook  things  that  lay 
directly  under  his  nose.  If  the  sea  only  hap- 
pened to  be  deep  enough,  however,  Lynceus 
could  tell  you  exactly  what  kind  of  rocks  or 
sands  were  at  the  bottom  of  it;  and  he  often 
cried  out  to  his  companions,  that  they  were 
sailing  over  heaps  of  sunken  treasure,  which 
yet  he  was  none  the  richer  for  beholding.  To 
confess  the  truth,  few  people  believed  him  when 
he  said  it. 

Well!  But  when  the  Argonauts,  as  these 
fifty  brave  adventurers  were  called,  had  prepared 
every  thing  for  the  voyage,  an  unforeseen  diffi- 
culty threatened  to  end  it  before  it  was  begun. 
The  vessel,  you  must  understand,  was  so  long, 
and  broad,  and  ponderous,  that  the  united  force 
of  all  the  fifty  was  insufficient  to  shove  her  into 


oUU  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

the  water.  Hercules,  I  suppose,  had  not  grown 
to  his  full  strength,  else  he  might  have  set  her 
afloat  as  easily  as  a  little  boy  launches  his  boat 
upon  a  puddle.  But  here  were  these  fifty  heroes, 
pushing,  and  straining,  and  growing  red  in  the 
face,  without  making  the  Argo  start  an  inch. 
At  last,  quite  wearied  out^  they  sat  themselves 
down  on  the  shore,  exceedingly  disconsolate,  and 
thinking  that  the  vessel  must  be  left  to  rot  and 
fall  in  pieces,  and  that  they  must  either  swim 
across  the  sea  or  lose  the  Golden  Fleece. 

All  at  once,  Jason  bethought  himself  of  the 
galley's  miraculous  figure  head. 

"  O,  daughter  of  the  Talking  Oak,"  cried  he, 
"  how  shall  we  set  to  work  to  get  our  vessel  into 
the  water?" 

"  Seat  yourselves,"  answered  the  image,  (for  it 
had  known  what  had  ought  to  be  done  from  the 
very  first,  and  was  only  waiting  for  the  question 
to  be  put,)  —  "  seat  yourselves,  and  handle  your 
oars,  and  let  Orpheus  play  upon  his  harp." 

Immediately  the  fifty  heroes  got  on  board,  and 
seizing  their  oars,  held  them  perpendicularly  in 
the  air,  while  Orpheus  (who  liked  such  a  task 
far  better  than  rowing)  swept  his  fingers  across 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  301 

the  harp.  At  the  first  ringing  note  of  the  music, 
they  felt  the  vessel  stir.  Orpheus  thrummed 
away  briskly,  and  the  galley  slid  at  once  into  the 
sea,  dipping  her  prow  so  deeply  that  the  figure 
head  drank  the  wave  with  its  marvellous  lips, 
and  rising  again  as  buoyant  as  a  swan.  The 
rowers  plied  their  fifty  oars  ;  the  white  foa<n 
boiled  up  before  the  prow ;  the  water  gurgled 
and  bubbled  in  their  wake  ;  while  Orpheus  con- 
tinued to  play  so  lively  a  strain  of  music,  that 
the  vessel  seemed  to  dance  over  the  billows  by 
way  of  keeping  time  to  it.  Thus  triumphantly 
did  the  Argo  sail  out  of  the  harbor,  amidst  the 
huzzas  and  good  wishes  of  every  body  except 
the  wicked  old  Pelias,  who  stood  on  a  promon- 
tory, scowling  at  her,  and  wishing  that  he  could 
blow  out  of  his  lungs  the  tempest  of  wrath  thai 
was  in  his  heart,  and  so  sink  the  galley  with  all 
on  board.  When  they  had  sailed  above  fifty 
miles  over  the  sea,  Lynceus  happened  to  cast  his 
sharp  eyes  behind,  and  said  that  there  was  this 
bad-hearted  king,  still  perched  upon  the  promon- 
tory, and  scowling  so  gloomily  that  it  looked 
like  a  black  thunder  cloud  in  that  quarter  of  the 
horizon. 


302 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 


In  order  to  make  th3  time  pass  away  more 
pleasantly  during  the  voyage,  the  heroes  talked 
about  the  Golden  Fleece.  It  originally  belonged, 
it  appears,  to  a  Boeotian  ram,  who  had  taken  on 
his  back  two  children,  w^hen  in  danger  of  their 
lives,  and  fled  with  them  over  land  and  sea,  as  far 
as  Colchis.  One  of  the  children,  whose  name 
was  Helle,  fell  into  the  sea  and  was  drowned. 
But  the  other,  (a  little  boy,  named  Phrixus)  was 
brought  safe  ashore  by  the  faithful  ram,  who, 
however,  was  so  exhausted  that  he  immediately 
lay  down  and  died.  In  memory  of  this  good 
deed,  and  as  a  token  of  his  true  heart,  the  fleece 
of  the  poor  dead  ram  was  miraculously  changed 
to  gold,  and  became  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
objects  ever  seen  on  earth.  It  was  hung  upon  a 
tree  in  a  sacred  grove,  where  it  had  now  been 
kept  I  know  not  how  many  years,  and  was  the 
envy  of  mighty  kings,  who  had  nothing  so  mag- 
nificent in  any  of  their  palaces. 

If  I  were  to  tell  you  all  the  adventures  of  the 
Argonauts,  it  would  take  me  till  nightfall,  and 
perhaps  a  great  deal  longer.  There  was  no  lack 
of  wonderful  events,  as  you  may  judge  from  what 
you   have  already  heard.       At   a   certain  island, 


THE    GOr.DEN    FLEECE.  303 

they  were  hospitably  received  by  King  Cyzicus, 
its  sovereign,  who  made  a  feast  for  them,  and 
treated  them  like  brothers.  But  the  Argonauts 
saw  that  this  good  king  looked  downcast  and 
very  much  troubled,  and  they  therefore  inquired 
of  him  what  was  the  matter.  King  Cyzicus 
hereupon  informed  them  that  he  and  his  subjects 
were  greatly  abused  and  incommoded  by  the 
inhabitants  of  a  neighboring  mountain,  who 
made  war  upon  them,  and  killed  many  people, 
and  ravaged  the  country.  And  while  they  were 
talking  about  it,  Cyzicus  pointed  to  the  moun- 
tain, and  asked  Jason  and  his  companions  what 
they  saw  there. 

"  I  see  some  very  tall  objects,"  answered  Ja- 
son ;  "  but  they  are  at  such  a  distance  that  I 
cannot  distinctly  make  out  what  they  are.  To 
tell  your  majesty  the  truth,  they  look  so  very 
strangely  that  I  am  inclined  to  think  them 
clouds,  which  have  chanced  to  take  something 
like  human  shapes." 

"  I  see  them  very  plainly,"  remarked  Lynceus, 
whose  eyes,  you  know,  were  as  far  sighted  as 
a  telescope.  "  They  are  a  band  of  enormous 
giants,  all  of  whom  have  six  arms  apiece,  and  a 


304  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

club,  a  sword,  or  some  other  weapon  in  each 
of  their  hands." 

*'  You  have  excellent  eyes,"  said  King  Cyzicus. 
"  Yes ;  they  are  six  armed  giants,  as  you  say, 
and  these  are  the  enemies  whom  I  and  my 
subjects  have  to  contend  with." 

The  next  day,  when  the  Argonauts  were  about 
setting  sail,  down  came  these  terrible  giants, 
stepping  a  hundred  yards  at  a  stride,  brandish- 
ing their  six  arms  apiece,  and  looking  very  for- 
midable, so  far  aloft  in  the  air.  Each  of  these 
monsters  was  able  to  carry  on  a  whole  war  by 
himself,  for  with  one  of  his  arms  he  could  fling 
immense  stones,  and  wield  a  club  with  another, 
and  a  sword  with  a  third,  while  the  fourth  was 
poking  a  long  spear  at  the  enemy,  and  the  fifth 
and  sixth  were  shooting  him  with  a  bow  and 
arrow.  But,  luckily,  though  the  giants  were  so 
huge,  and  had  so  many  arms,  they  had  each 
but  one  heart,  and  that  no  bigger  nor  braver 
than  the  heart  of  an  ordinary  man.  Besides,  if 
they  had  been  like  the  hundred-armed  Briareus, 
the  brave  Argonauts  would  have  given  them  their 
hands  full  of  fight.  Jason  and  his  friends  went 
boldly  to   meet  them,   slew  a   great  many,  and 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  305 

made  the  rest  take  to  their  heels,  so  that,  if  the 
giants  had  had  six  legs  apiece  instead  of  six 
arms,  it  would  have  served  them  better  to  run 
away  with. 

Another  strange  adventure  happened  when 
the  voyagers  came  to  Thrace,  where  they  found 
a  poor  blind  king,  named  Phineus,  deserted  by 
his  subjects,  and  living  in  a  very  sorrowful  way, 
all  by  himself.  On  Jason's  inquiring  whether 
they  could  do  him  any  service,  the  king  answered 
that  he  was  terribly  tormented  by  three  great 
winged  creatures,  called  Harpies,  which  had  the 
faces  of  women,  and  the  wings,  bodies,  and 
claws  of  vultures.  These  ugly  wretches  were  in 
the  habit  of  snatching  away  his  dinner,  and  aL 
lowed  him  no  peace  of  his  life.  Upon  hearing 
this,  the  Argonauts  spread  a  plentiful  feast  on 
the  sea  shore,  well  knowing,  from  what  the  blind 
king  said  of  their  greediness,  that  the  Harpies 
would  snuff  up  the  scent  of  the  victuals,  and 
quickly  come  to  steal  them  away.  And  so  it 
turned  out;  for,  hardly  was  the  table  set,  before 
the  three  hideous  vulture  women  came  flapping 
their  wings,  seized  the  food  in  their  talons,  and 
flew  off  as  fast  as  they  could.  But  the  two  sons 
20 


306  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

of  the  North  Wind  drew  their  swords,  spread 
their  pinions,  and  set  off  through  the  air  in  pur- 
suit of  the  thieves,  whom  they  at  last  overtook 
among  some  islands,  after  a  chase  of  hundreds 
of  miles.  The  two  winged  youths  blustered 
terribly  at  the  Harpies,  (for  they  had  the  rough 
temper  of  their  father,)  and  so  frightened  them 
with  their  drawn  swords,  that  they  solemnly 
promised  never  to  trouble  King  Phineus  again. 
Then  the  Argonauts  sailed  onward,  and  met 
with  many  other  marvellous  incidents,  any  one 
of  which  would  make  a  story  by  itself.  At  one 
time,  they  landed  on  an  island,  and  were  reposing 
on  the  grass,  when  they  suddenly  found  them- 
selves assailed  by  what  seemed  a  shower  of 
steel-headed  arrows.  Some  of  them  stuck  in 
the  ground,  while  others  hit  against  their  shields, 
and  several  penetrated  their  flesh.  The  fifty 
heroes  started  up,  and  looked  about  them  for  the 
hidden  enemy,  but  could  find  none,  nor  see  any 
spot,  on  the  whole  island,  where  even  a  single 
archer  could  lie  concealed.  Still,  however,  the 
steel-headed  arrows  came  whizzing  among  them  ; 
and,  at  last,  happening  to  look  upward,  they 
beheld  a  large  flock  of  birds,  hovering  and  wheel- 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  307 

ing  aloft,  and  shooting  their  feathers  down  upon 
the  Argonauts.  These  feathers  were  the  steel- 
headed  arrows  that  had  so  tormented  them. 
There  was  no  possibility  of  making  any  resist- 
ance ;  and  the  fifty  heroic  Argonauts  might  all 
have  been  killed  or  wounded  by  a  flock  of 
troublesome  birds,  without  ever  setting  eyes  on 
the  Golden  Fleece,  if  Jason  had  not  thought 
of  asking  the  advice  of  the  oaken  image. 

So  he  ran  to  the  galley  as  fast  as  his  legs 
would  carry  him. 

"  O,  daughter  of  the  Speaking  Oak,"  cried  he, 
all  out  of  breath,  "  we  need  your  wisdom  more 
than  ever  before !  We  are  in  gi*eat  peril  from  a 
flock  of  birds,  who  are  shooting  us  with  their 
steel-pointed  feathers.  What  can  we  do  to 
drive  them  away  ?  " 

"  Make  a  clatter  on  your  shields,"  said  the 
image. 

On  receiving  this  excellent  counsel,  Jason 
hurried  back  to  his  companions,  (who  were  far 
more  dismayed  than  when  they  fought  with  the 
six-armed  giants,)  and  bade  them  strike  with 
their  swords  upon  their  brazen  shields.  Forth- 
with the  fifty  heroes  set  heartily  to  work,  bang- 


308  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

ing  with  might  and  main,  and  raised  such'  a 
teriible  clatter,  that  the  birds  made  what  haste 
they  could  to  get  away ;  and  though  they 
had  shot  half  the  feathers  out  of  their  wings, 
they  were  soon  seen  skimming  among  the 
clouds,  a  long  distance  off,  and  looking  like  a 
flock  of  wild  geese.  Orpheus  celebrated  this 
victory  by  playing  a  triumphant  anthem  on  his 
harp,  and  sang  so  melodiously  that  Jason  begged 
him  to  desist,  lest,  as  the  steel-feathered  birds 
had  been  driven  away  by  an  ugly  sound,  they 
might  be  enticed  back  again  by  a  sweet  one. 
While  the  Argonauts  remained  on  this  island, 
they  saw  a  small  vessel  approaching  the  shore, 
in  which  were  two  young  men  of  princely  de- 
meanor, and  exceedingly  handsome,  as  young 
princes  generally  were,  in  those  days.  Now, 
who  do  you  imagine  these  two  voyagers  turned 
out  to  be  ?  Why,  if  you  will  believe  me,  they 
were  the  sons  of  that  very  Phrixus,  who,  in  his 
childhood,  had  been  carried  to  Colchis  on  the 
back  of  the  golden-fleeced  ram.  Since  that 
time,  Phrixus  had  married  the  king's  daughter ; 
and  the  two  young  princes  had  been  born  and 
brought  up  at  Colchis,  and  had  spent  their  play 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 


309 


days  in  the  outskirts  of  the  grove,  in  the  centre 
of  which  the  Golden  Fleece  was  hanging  upon 
a  tree.  They  were  now  on  their  way  to  Greece, 
in  hopes  of  getting  back  a  kingdom  that  had 
been  wrongfully  taken   from  their  father. 

When  the  princes  understood  whither  the 
Argonauts  were  going,  they  offered  to  turn  back, 
and  guide  them  to  Colchis.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  they  spoke  as  if  it  were  very  doubtful 
whether  Jason  would  succeed  in  getting  the 
Golden  Fleece.  According  to  their  account,  the 
tree  on  which  it  hung  was  guarded  by  a  terri- 
ble dragon,  who  never  failed  to  devour,  at  one 
mouthful,  every  person  who  might  venture  with- 
in his  reach. 

"  There  are  other  difficulties  in  the  way,"  con- 
tinued the  young  princes.  "  But  is  not  this 
enough  ?  Ah,  brave  Jason,  turn  back  before  it 
is  too  late.  It  would  grieve  us  to  the  heart,  if 
you  and  your  nine  and  forty  brave  companions 
should  be  eaten  up,  at  fifty  mouthfuls,  by  this 
execrable  dragon." 

"  My  young  friends,"  quietly  replied  Jason, 
"  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  think  the  dragon 
very  terrible.     You  have  grown  up  from  infancy 


310  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

in  the  fear  of  this  monster,  and  therefore  still  re- 
gard him  with  the  awe  that  children  feel  for  the 
bugbears  and  hobgoblins  which  their  nurses 
have  talked  to  them  about.  But,  in  my  view 
of  the  matter,  the  dragon  is  merely  a  pretty  large 
serpent,  who  is  not  half  so  likely  to  snap  me  up 
at  one  mouthful  as  I  am  to  cut  off  his  ugly 
head,  and  strip  the  skin  from  his  body.  At  all 
events,  turn  back  who  may,  I  will  never  see 
Greece  again,  unless  I  carry  with  me  the  Golden 
Fleece." 

"  We  will  none  of  us  turn  back  I "  cried  his 
nine  and  forty  brave  comrades.  "  Let  us  get  on 
board  the  galley  this  instant;  and  if  the  dragon 
is  to  make  a  breakfast  of  us,  much  good  may  it 
do  him." 

And  Orpheus  (whose  custom  it  was  to  set 
every  thing  to  music)  began  to  harp  and  sing 
most  gloriously,  and  made  every  mother's  son  of 
them  feel  as  if  nothing  in  this  world  were  so  de- 
lectable as  to  fight  dragons,  and  nothing  so  truly 
honorable  as  to  be  eaten  up  at  one  mouthful,  in 
case  of  the  worst. 

After  this,  (being  now  under  the  guidance  of 
the  two  princes,  who  were  well  acquainted  with 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  311 

the  way,)  they  quickly  sailed  to  Colchis.  When 
the  king  of  the  country,  whose  name  was  ^etes, 
heard  of  their  arrival,  he  instantly  summoned 
Jason  to  court.  The  king  was  a  stern  and  cruel- 
looking  potentate;  and  though  he  put  on  as 
polite  and  hospitable  an  expression  as  he  could, 
Jason  did  not  like  his  face  a  whit  better  than 
that  of  the  wicked  King  Pelias,  who  dethroned 
his  father. 

"  You  are  welcome,  brave  Jason,"  said  King 
^etes.     "  Pray,  are  you  on  a  pleasure  voyage  ? 

—  or  do  you  meditate  the  discovery  of  unknown 
islands?  —  or  what  other  cause  has  procured  me 
the  happiness  of  seeing  you  at  my  court  ?  " 

"  Great  sir,"  replied  Jason,  with  an  obeisance, 

—  for  Chiron  had  taught  him  how  to  behave 
with  propriety,  whether  to  kings  or  beggars, — 
"  I  have  come  hither  with  a  purpose  which  I 
now  beg  your  majesty's  permission  to  execute. 
King  Pelias,  who  sits  on  my  father's  throne,  (to 
which  he  has  no  more  right  than  to  the  one  on 
which  your  excellent  majesty  is  now  seated,)  has 
engaged  to  come  down  from  it,  and  to  give  me 
his  crown  and  sceptre,  provided  I  bring  him  the 
Golden  Fleece.     This,  as  your  majesty  is  aware, 


312  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

is  now  hanging  on  a  tree  here  at  Colchis ;  and 
I  humbly  solicit  your  gracious  leave  to  take  it 
away." 

In  spite  of  himself,  the  king's  face  twisted  it- 
self into  an  angry  frown ;  for,  above  all  things 
else  in  the  world,  he  prized  the  Golden  Fleece, 
and  was  even  suspected  of  having  done  a  very 
wicked  act,  in  order  to  get  it  into  his  own  pos- 
session. It  put  him  into  the  worst  possible  hu- 
mor, therefore,  to  hear  that  the  gallant  Prince 
Jason,  and  forty-nine  of  the  bravest  young  war- 
riors of  Greece,  had  come  to  Colchis  with  the 
sole  purpose  of  taking  away  his  chief  treasure. 

"  Do  you  know,"  asked  King  ^etes,  eying 
Jason  very  sternly,  "  what  are  the  conditions 
which  you  must  fulfil  before  getting  possession 
of  the  Golden  Fleece  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard,"  rejoined  the  youth,  "  that  a 
dragon  lies  beneath  the  tree  on  which  the  prize 
hangs,  and  that  whoever  approaches  him  runs 
the  risk  of  being  devoured  at  a  mouthful." 

*'  True,"  said  the  king,  with  a  smile  that  did 
not  look  particularly  good  natured.  "  Very  true, 
young  man.  But  there  are  other  things  as 
hard,    or  perhaps    a   little    harder,   to   be   done 


THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE.  313 

before  you  can  even  have  the  privilege  of  being 
devoured  by  the  dragon.  For  example,  you 
must  first  tame  my  two  brazen-footed  and  bra- 
zen-lunged bulls,  which  Vulcan,  the  wonderful 
blacksmith,  made  for  me.  There  is  a  furnace  in 
each  of  their  stomachs ;  and  they  breathe  such 
hot  fire  out  of  their  mouths  and  nostrils,  that  no- 
body has  hitherto  gone  nigh  them  without  being 
instantly  burned  to  a  small,  black  cinder.  What 
do  you  think  of  this,  my  brave  Jason  ?  " 

"  I  must  encounter  the  peril,"  answered  Jason, 
composedly,  "  since  it  stands  in  the  way  of  my 
purpose." 

"  After  taming  the  fiery  bulls,''  continued  King 
^etes,  who  was  determined  to  scare  Jason  if 
possible,  "  you  must  yoke  them  to  a  plough,  and 
must  plough  the  sacred  earth  in  the  grove  of 
Mars,  and  sow  soma  of  the  same  dragon's  teeth 
from  which  Cadmus  raised  a  crop  of  armed 
men.  They  are  an  unruly  set  of  reprobates, 
those  sons  of  the  dragon's  teeth ;  and  unless 
you  treat  them  suitably,  they  will  fall  upon  you 
sword  in  hand.  You  and  your  nine  and  forty 
Argonauts,  my  bold  Jason,  are  hardly  numerous 
or  strong  enough  to  fight  with  such  a  host  as 
will  spring  up." 


31.4  THE    GOLDExN    FLEECE. 

"  My  master  Chiron,"  replied  Jason,  "  taught 
me,  long  ago,  the  story  of  Cadmus.  Perhaps  I 
can  manage  the  quarrelsome  sons  of  the  drag- 
on's teeth  as  well  as  Cadmus  did." 

"  I  wish  the  dragon  had  him,"  muttered  King 
jEetes  to  himself,  "  and  the  four-footed  pedant, 
his  schoolmaster,  into  the  bargain.  Why,  what  a 
foolhardy,  self-conceited  coxcomb  he  is !  We'll 
see  what  my  fire-breathing  bulls  will  do  for  him. 
Well,  Prince  Jason,"  he  continued,  aloud,  and  as 
complaisantly  as  he  could,  "  make  yourself  com- 
fortable for  to-day,  and  to-morrow  morning,  since 
you  insist  upon  it,  you  shall  try  your  skill  at 
the  plough." 

While  the  king  talked  with  Jason,  a  beautiful 
young  woman  wan  standing  behind  the  throne. 
She  fixed  her  eyes  earnestly  upon  the  youthful 
stranger,  and  listened  attentively  to  every  word 
that  was  spoken ;  and  when  Jason  withdrew 
from  the  king's  presence,  this  young  woman 
followed  him  out  of  the  room. 

"I  am  the  king's  daughter,"  she  said  to  him, 
*'  and  my  name  is  Medea.  I  know  a  great  deal 
of  which  other  young  princesses  are  ignorant, 
and  can  do  many  th'.ngs  which  Ihey  would  be 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 


315 


afraid  so  much  as  to  dream  of.  If  you  will 
trust  to  me,  I  can  instruct  you  how  to  tame  the 
fiery  bulls,  and  sow  the  dragon's  teeth,  and  get 
the  Golden  Fleece." 

"  Indeed,  beautiful  princess,"  answered  Jason, 
"  if  you  will  do  me  this  service,  I  promise  to  be 
grateful  to  you  my  whole  life  long." 

Gazing  at  Medea,  he  beheld  a  wonderful  in- 
telligence in  her  face.  She  was  one  of  those 
persons  whose  eyes  are  full  of  mystery ;  so  that, 
while  looking  into  them,  you  seem  to  see  a  very 
great  way,  as  into  a  deep  well,  yet  can  never  be 
certain  whether  you  see  into  the  farthest  depths, 
or  whether  there  be  not  something  else  hidden 
at  the  bottom.  If  Jason  had  been  capable  of 
fearing  any  thing,  he  would  have  been  afraid  of 
making  this  young  princess  his  enemy  ;  for 
beautiful  as  she  now  looked,  she  might,  the  very 
next  instant,  become  as  terrible  as  the  dragon 
that  kept  watch  over  the  Golden  Fleece. 

."Princess,"  he  exclaimed,  "you  seem  indeed 
very  wise  and  very  powerful.  But  how  can 
you  help  me  to  do  the  things  of  which  you 
speak  ?     Are  you  an  enchantress  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Prince  Jason,"  answered  Medea,  with  a 


316  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

smile,  "  you  have  hit  upon  the  truth.  J  ain  an 
enchantress.  Circe,  my  father's  sister,  taught 
me  to  be  one,  and  I  could  tell  you,  if  I  pleased, 
who  was  the  old  woman  with  the  peacock,  the 
pomegranate,  and  the  cuckoo  staff,  whom  you 
carried  over  the  river;  and,  likewise,  who  it  is 
that  speaks  through  the  lips  of  the  oaken  image, 
that  stands  in  the  prow  of  your  galley.  I  am 
acquainted  with  some  of  your  secrets,  you  per- 
ceive. It  is  well  for  you  that  I  am  favorably 
inclined ;  for,  otherwise,  you  would  hardly  es- 
cape being  snapped  up  by  the  dragon." 

"  I  should  not  so  much  care  for  the  dragon," 
replied  Jason,  "  if  I  only  knew  how  to  manage 
the  brazen-footed   and  fiery-lunged  bulls." 

"  If  you  are  as  brave  as  I  think  you,  and  as 
you  have  need  to  be,"  said  Medea,  "  your  own 
bold  heart  will  teach  you  that  there  is  but  one 
way  of  dealing  with  a  mad  bull.  What  it  is 
I  leave  you  to  find  out  in  the  moment  of  peril. 
As  for  the  fiery  breath  of  these  animals,  I  have 
a  charmed  ointment  here,  which  will  prevent 
you  from  being  burned  up,  and  cure  you  if  you 
chance  to  be  a  little  scorched." 

So  she  put  a  golden  box  into  his  hand,  and 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  317 

directed  him  liow  to  apply  the  perfumed  un- 
guent which  it  contained,  and  where  to  meet  her 
at  midnight. 

''Only  be  brave,"  added  she,  "and  before 
daybreak  the  brazen  bulls  shall  be  tamed." 

The  young  man  assured  her  that  his  heart 
would  not  fail  him.  He  then  rejoined  his  com- 
rades, and  told  them  what  had  passed  between 
the  princess  and  himself,  and  warned  them  to 
be  in  readiness  in  case  there  might  be  need  of 
their  help. 

At  the  appointed  hour  he  met  the  beautiful 
Medea  on  the  marble  steps  of  the  king's  palace. 
She  gave  him  a  basket,  in  which  were  the  drag- 
on's teeth,  just  as  they  had  been  pulled  out  of  the 
monster's  jaws  by  Cadmus,  long  ago.  Medea 
then  led  Jason  down  the  palace  steps,  and 
through  the  silent  streets  of  the  city,  and  into 
the  royal  pasture  ground,  where  the  two  brazen- 
footed  bulls  were  kept.  It  was  a  starry  night, 
with  a  bright  gleam  along  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  sky,  where  the  moon  was  soon  going  to  show 
herself.  After  entering  the  pasture,  the  princess 
paused  and  looked  around. 

''  There  they  are,"  said  she,  "  reposing  them- 


318  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

selves  and  chewing  their  fiery  cuds  in  that  farthest 
corner  of  the  field.  It  will  be  excellent  sport,  I 
assure  you,  when  they  catch  a  glimpse  of  your 
figure.  My  father  and  all  his  court  delight  in 
nothing  so  much  as  to  see  a  stranger  trying  to 
yoke  them,  in  order  to  come  at  the  Golden 
Fleece.  It  makes  a  holiday  in  Colchis  when- 
ever such  a  thing  happens.  For  my  part,  I  enjoy 
it  immensely.  You  cannot  imagine  in  what  a 
mere  twinkling  of  an  eye  their  hot  breath  shriv- 
els a  young  man  into  a  black  cinder." 

"  Are  you  sure,  beautiful  Medea,"  asked  Ja- 
son, '•  quite  sure,  that  the  unguent  in  the  gold 
box  will  prove  a  remedy  against  those  terrible 
burns  ?  " 

"  If  you  doubt,  if  you  are  in  the  least  afraid," 
said  the  princess,  looking  him  in  the  face  by 
the  dim  starlight,  "  you  had  better  never  have 
been  born  than  go  a  step  nigher  to  the  bulls." 

But  Jason  had  set  his  heart  steadfastly  on 
getting  the  Golden  Fleece ;  and  I  positively 
doubt  whether  he  would  have  gone  back  without 
it,  even  had  he  been  certain  of  finding  himself 
turned  into  a  red-hot  cinder,  or  a  handful  of 
white  ashesj  thp  instant  he  made  a  step  farther 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  319 

He  therefore  let  go  Medea's  hand,  and  walked 
boldly  forward  in  the  direction  whither  she  had 
pointed.  At  some  distance  before  him  he  per- 
ceived four  streams  of  fiery  vapor,  regularly  ap- 
pearing, and  again  vanishing,  after  dimly  lighting 
up  the  surrounding  obscurity.  These,  you  will 
understand,  were  caused  by  the  breath  of  the 
brazen  bulls,  which  was  quietly  stealing  out  of 
their  four  nostrils,  as  they  lay  chewing  their 
cuds. 

At  the  first  two  or  three  steps  which  Jason 
made,  the  four  fiery  streams  appeared  to  gush 
out  somewhat  more  plentifully ;  for  the  two 
brazen  bulls  had  heard  his  foot  tramp,  and  were 
lifting  up  their  hot  noses  to  snufF  the  air.  He 
went  a  little  farther,  and  by  the  way  in  which 
the  red  vapor  now  spouted  forth,  he  judged  that 
the  creatures  had  got  upon  their  feet.  Now  he 
could  see  glowung  sparks,  and  vivid  jets  of  flame. 
At  the  next  step,  each  of  the  bulls  made  the 
pasture  echo  with  a  terrible  roar,  while  the  burn- 
ing breath,  which  they  thus  belched  forth,  lit  up 
the  whole  field  with  a  momentary  flash.  One 
other  stride  did  bold  Jason  make  ;  and,  sudden 
ly,  as  a  streak  of  lightning,  on  came  these  fiery 


320  THE    GOLDEN     FLEECE. 

animals,  roaring  like  thunder,  and  sending  out 
sheets  of  white  flame,  which  so  kindled  up  the 
scene  that  the  young  man  could  discern  every 
object  more  distinctly  than  by  daylight.  Most 
distinctly  of  all  he  saw  the  two  horrible  creatures 
galloping  right  down  upon  him,  their  brazen 
hoofs  rattling  and  ringing  over  the  ground,  and 
their  tails  sticking  up  stiflly  into  the  air,  as  has 
always  been  the  fashion  with  angry  bulls.  Their 
breath  scorched  the  herbage  before  them.  So 
intensely  hot  it  w^as,  indeed,  that  it  caught  a  dry 
tree,  under  which  Jason  was  now  standing,  and 
set  it  all  in  a  light  blaze.  But  as  for  Jason  him- 
self, (thanks  to  Medea's  enchanted  ointment,) 
the  white  flame  curled  around  his  body,  without 
injuring  him  a  jot  more  than  if  he  had  been 
made  of  asbestos. 

Greatly  encouraged  at  finding  himself  not  yet 
turned  into  a  cinder,  the  young  man  awaited  the 
attack  of  the  bulls.  Just  as  the  brazen  brutes 
fancied  themselves  sure  of  tossing  him  into  the 
air,  he  caught  one  of  them  by  the  horn,  and  the 
other  by  his  screwed-up  tail,  and  held  them  in  a 
gripe  like  that  of  an  iron  vice,  one  with  his  right 
hand,  the   other  with   his  left.     Well,  he    must 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  321 

have  been  wonderfullv  strong  in  his  arms,  to  be 
sure.  But  the  secret  of  the  matter  was,  that  the 
brazen  bulls  were  enchanted  creatures,  and  that 
Jason  had  broken  the  spell  of  their  fiery  fierce- 
ness by  hi^-  bold  way  of  handling  them.  And, 
ever  since  that  time,  it  has  been  the  favorite 
method  of  brave  men,  when  danger  assails  them, 
to  do  what  they  call  "  taking  the  bull  by  the 
horns ;  "  and  to  gripe  him  by  the  tail  is  pretty 
much  the  same  thing  —  that  is,  to  throw  aside 
fear,  and  overcome  the  peril  by  despising  it. 
It  was  now  easy  to  yoke  the  bulls,  and  to  har- 
ness them  to  the  plough,  which  had  lain  rusting 
on  the  ground  for  a  great  many  years  gone  by ; 
so  long  was  it  before  any  body  could  be  found 
capable  of  ploughing  that  piece  of  land.  Jason, 
I  suppose,  had  been  taught  how  to  draw  a  fur- 
row by  the  good  old  Chiron,  who,  perhaps,  used 
to  allow  himself  to  be  harnessed  to  the  plough. 
At  any  rate,  our  hero  succeeded  perfectly  well  in 
breaking  up  the  greensward ;  and,  by  the  time 
that  the  moon  was  a  quarter  of  her  journey  up 
the  sky,  the  ploughed  field  lay  before  him,  a 
large  tract  of  black  earth,  ready  to  be  sown  with 
the  dragon's  teeth.  So  Jason  scattered  them 
21 


322  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

broadcast,  and  harrowed  them  into  the  soil  with 
a  brush-harrow,  and  took  his  stand  on  the  edge 
of  the  field,  anxious  to  see  what  would  happen 
next. 

"  Must  we  wait  long  for  harvest  time,''  he 
inquired  of  Medea,  who  was  now  standing  by 
his  side. 

"  Whether  sooner  or  later,  it  will  be  sure  to 
come,"  answered  the  princess.  "A  crop  of 
armed  men  never  fails  to  spring  up,  when  the 
dragon's  teeth  have  been  sown." 

The  moon  was  now  high  aloft  in  the  heavens, 
and  threw  its  bright  beams  over  the  ploughed 
field,  where  as  yet  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen. 
Any  farmer,  on  viewing  it,  would  have  said  that 
Jason  must  wait  weeks  before  the  green  blades 
would  peep  from  an\,ong  the  clods,  and  whole 
months  before  the  yellow  grain  would  be  ripened 
for  the  sickle.  But  by  and  by,  all  over  the  field, 
there  was  something  that  glistened  in  the  moon- 
beams, like  sparkling  drops  of  dew.  These 
bright  objects  sprouted  higher,  and  proved  to  be 
the  steel  heads  of  spears.  Then  there  was  a 
dazzling  gleam  from  a  vast  number  of  polished 
brass    helmets,    beneath    which,    as    they    grew 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  323 

farther  out  of  the  soil,  appeared  the  dark  and 
bearded  visages  of  warriors,  struggling  to  free 
themselves  from  the  imprisoning  earth.  The  first 
look  that  they  gave  at  the  upper  world  was  a 
glare  of  wTath  and  defiance.  Next  were  seen  their 
bright  breastplates ;  in  every  right  hand  there 
was  a  sword  or  a  spear,  and  on  each  left  arm  a 
shield ;  and  when  this  strange  crop  of  warriors 
had  but  half  grown  out  of  the  earth,  they  strug- 
gled,—  such  was  their  impatience  of  restraint, — 
and,  as  it  were,  tore  themselves  up  by  the  roots. 
Wherever  a  dragon's  tooth  had  fallen,  there 
stood  a  man  armed  for  battle.  They  made  a 
clangor  with  their  swords  against  their  shields, 
and  eyed  one  another  fiercely ;  for  they  had 
come  into  this  beautiful  world,  and  into  the 
peaceful  moonlight,  full  of.  rage  and  stormy  pas- 
sions, and  ready  to  take  the  life  of  every  human 
brother,  in  recompense  of  the  bocn  of  their  own 
existence. 

There  have  been  many  other  armies  in  the 
world  that  seemed  to  possess  the  same  fierce  na- 
ture with  the  one  which  had  now  sprouted  from 
the  dragon's  teeth  ;  but  these,  in  the  moonlit 
field,   were    the    more    excusable,    because    they 


324  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

never  had  women  for  their  mothers.  And  how  it 
would  have  rejoiced  any  great  captain,  who  was 
bent  on  conquering  the  world,  like  Alexander  or 
Napoleon,  to  raise  a  crop  of  armed  soldiers  as 
easily  as  Jason  did ! 

For  a  while,  the  warriors  stood  flourishing 
their  weapons,  clashing  their  swords  against  their 
shields,  and  boiling  over  with  the  red-hot  thirst 
for  battle.  Then  they  began  to  shout —  "  Show 
us  the  enemy  !  Lead  us  to  the  charge  I  Death 
or  victory  I  Come  on,  brave  comrades  !  Con- 
quer or  die ! "  and  a  hundred  other  outcries, 
such  as  men  always  bellow  forth  on  a  battle  field, 
and  which  these  dragon  people  seemed  to  have 
at  their  tongues'  ends.  At  last,  the  front  rank 
caught  sight  of  Jason,  who,  beholding  the  flash 
of  so  many  weapons  in  the  moonlight,  had 
thought  it  best  to  draw  his  sword.  In  a  moment 
all  the  sons  of  the  dragon's  teeth  appeared  to 
take  Jason  for  an  enemy ;  and  crying  with  one 
voice,  "  Guard  the  Golden  Fleece  I "  they  ran  at 
him  with  uplifted  swords  and  protruded  spears. 
Jason  knew  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  with- 
stand this  bloodthirsty  battalion  with  his  single 
arm,   but  determined,   since   there   was  nothing 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  325 

better  to  be  clone,  to  die  as  valiantly  as  if  he 
himself  had  sprung  from  a  dragon's  tooth. 

Medea,  however,  bade  him  snatch  up  a  stone 
from  the  ground. 

"Throw  it  among  them  quickly!"  cried  she. 
*^  It  is  the  only  way  to  save  yourself." 

The  armed  men  were  now  so  nisfh  that  Jason 
could  discern  the  fire  flashing  out  of  their  en- 
raged eyes,  wnen  he  let  fly  the  stone,  and  saw 
it  strike  the  helmet  of  a  tall  warrior,  who  was 
rushing  upon  him  with  his  blade  aloft.  The 
stone  glanced  from  this  man's  helmet  to  the 
shield  of  his  nearest  comrade,  and  thence  flew 
right  into  the  angry  face  of  another,  hitting  him 
smartly  between  the  eyes.  Each  of  the  three  who 
had  been  struck  by  the  stone  took  it  for  granted 
that  his  next  neighbor  had  given  him  a  blow; 
and  instead  of  running  any  farther  towards 
Jason,  they  began  a  fight  among  themselves. 
The  confusion  spread  through  the  host,  so  that 
it  seemed  scarcely  a  moment  before  they  were 
all  hacking,  hewing,  and  stabbing  at  one  another, 
lopping  off  arms,  heads,  and  legs,  and  doing  such 
memorable  deeds  that  Jason  was  filled  with  im- 
mense admiration ;  although,  at  the  same  time, 


326  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

he  could  not  help  laughing  to  behold  these  mighty 
men  punishing  each  other  for  an  offence  which 
he  himself  had  committed.  In  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time,  (almost  as  short,  indeed,  as 
it  had  taken  them  to  grow  up,)  all  but  one  of 
the  heroes  of  the  dragon's  teeth  were  stretched 
lifeless  on  the  field.  The  last  survivor,  the  bra- 
vest and  strongest  of  the  whole,  had  just  force 
enough  to  wave  his  crimson  sword  over  his  head, 
and  give  a  shout  of  exultation,  crying,  "  Victory  ! 
Victory!  Immortal  fame  I"  when  he  himself  fell 
down,  and  lay  quietly  among  his  slain  brethren. 

And  there  was  the  end  of  the  army  that  had 
sprouted  from  the  dragon's  teeth.  That  fierce 
and  feverish  fight  was  the  only  enjoyment  which 
they  had  tasted  on  this  beautiful  earth. 

"  Let  them  sleep  in  the  bed  of  honor,*'  said 
the  Princess  Medea,  with  a  sly  smile  at  Jason. 
"  The  w^orld  will  always  have  simpletons  enough, 
just  like  them,  fighting  and  dying  for  they  know 
not  what,  and  fancying  that  posterity  will  take 
the  trouble  to  put  laurel  wreaths  on  their  rusty 
and  battered  helmets.  Could  you  help  smiling, 
Prince  Jason,  to  see  the  self-conceit  of  that  last 
fellow,  just  as  he  tumbled  down  ?  " 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  327 

*'  It  made  me  very  sad,"  answered '  Jason, 
gravely.  "  And,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  princess, 
the  Golden  Fleece  docs  not  appear  so  well  worth 
the  winning,  after  what  I  have  here  beheld." 

"  You  will  think  differently  in  the  morning," 
said  Medea.  "  True,  the  Golden  Fleece  may 
not  be  so  valuable  as  you  have  thought  it ;  but 
then  there  is  nothing  better  in  the  world ;  and 
one  must  needs  have  an  object,  you  know. 
Come!  Your  night's  work  has  been  well  per- 
formed ;  and  to-morrow  you  can  inform  King 
iEetes  that  the  first  part  of  your  allotted  task  is 
fulfilled." 

Agreeably  to  Medea's  advice,  Jason  went  be- 
times in  the  morning  to  the  palace  of  King 
^etes.  Entering  the  presence  chamber,  he  stood 
at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and  made  a  low  obei- 
sance. 

"  Your  eyes  look  heavy,  Prince  Jason,"  ob- 
served the  king ;  "  you  appear  to  have  spent  a 
sleepless  night.  I  hope  you  have  been  consider- 
ing the  matter  a  little  more  wisely,  and  have 
concluded  not  to  get  yourself  scorched  to  a  cin- 
der, in  attempting  to  tame  my  brazen-lunged 
bulls." 


328 


THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 


"  That  is  already  accomplished,  may  it  please 
your  majesty,"  replied  Jason.  "  The  bulls  have 
been  tamed  and  yoked ;  the  field  has  been 
ploughed  ;  the  dragon's  teeth  have  been  sown 
broadcast,  and  harrowed  into  the  soil ;  the  crop 
of  armed  warriors  have  sprung  up,  and  they 
have  slain  one  another,  to  the  last  man.  And 
now  I  solicit  your  majesty's  permission  to  en- 
counter the  dragon,  that  I  may  take  down  the 
Golden  Fleece  from  the  tree,  and  depart,  with 
my  nine  and  forty  comrades." 

King  ^etes  scowled,  and  looked  very  angry 
and  excessively  disturbed;  for  he  knew  that,  in 
accordance  with  his  kingly  promise,  he  ought 
now  to  permit  Jason  to  win  the  fleece,  if  his 
courage  and  skill  should  enable  him  to  do  so. 
But,  since  the  young  man  had  met  with  such 
good  luck  in  the  matter  of  the  brazen  bulls  and 
the  dragon's  teeth,  the  king  feared  that  he  would 
be  equally  successful  in  slaying  the  dragon. 
And  therefore,  though  he  would  gladly  have 
seen  Jason  snapped  up  at  a  mouthful,  he  was 
resolved  (and  it  was  a  very  wrong  tiling  of  this 
wicked  potentate)  not  to  run  any  further  risk  of 
losing  his  beloved  fleece. 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  329 

"  You  lie  -er  would  have  succeeded  in  this 
business,  young  man,"  said  he,  'if  my  undutiful 
daughter  Medea  had  not  helped  you  with  her 
enchantments.  Had  you  acted  fairly,  you  would 
have  been,  at  this  instant,  a  black  cinder,  or  a 
handful  of  white  ashes.  I  forbid  you,  on  pain 
of  death,  to  make  any  more  attempts  to  get  the 
Golden  Fleece.  To  speak  my  mind  plainly,  you 
shall  never  set  eyes  on  so  much  as  one  of  its 
glistening  locks." 

Jason  left  the  king's  presence  in  great  sorrow 
and  anger.  He  could  think  of  nothing  better  to 
be  done  than  to  summon  together  his  forty-nine 
brave  Argonauts,  march  at  once  to  the  grove  of 
Mars,  slay  the  dragon,  take  possession  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  get  on  board  the  Argo,  and 
spread  all  sail  for  lolchos.  The  success  of  this 
scheme  depended,  it  is  true,  on  the  doubtful  point 
whether  all  the  fifty  heroes  might  not  be  snapped 
up,  at  so  many  mouthfuls,  by  the  dragon.  But, 
as  Jason  was  hastening  down  the  palace  steps, 
the  Princess  Medea  called  after  him,  and  beck- 
oned him  to  return.  Her  black  eyes  shone  upon 
him  with  such  a  keen  intelligence,  that  he  felt  as 
if  there  were  a  serpent  peeping  out  of  them ;  and, 


330 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 


although  she  had  done  him  so  much  service  only 
the  night  before,  he  was  by  no  means  very  certain 
that  she  would  not  do  him  an  equally  great  mis- 
chief before  sunset.  These  enchantresses,  you 
must  know,  are  never  to  be  depended  upon. 

"  What  says  King  ^etes,  my  royal  and  up- 
right father  ?  '*  inquired  Medea,  slighty  smiling. 
"  Will  he  give  you  the  Golden  Fleece,  without 
any  further  risk  or  trouble  ?  " 

"On  the  contrary,"  answered  Jason,  "  he  is 
very  angry  with  me  for  taming  the  brazen  bulls 
and  sowing  the  dragon's  teeth.  And  he  forbids 
me  to  make  any  more  attempts,  and  positively 
refuses  to  give  up  the  Golden  Fleece,  whether  I 
slay  the  dragon  or  no." 

"  Yes,  Jason,"  said  the  princess,  "  and  I  can 
tell  you  more.  Unless  you  set  sail  from  Colchis 
before  to-morrow's  sunrise,  the  king  means  to 
burn  your  fifty-oared  galley,  and  put  yourself 
and  your  forty-nine  brave  comrades  to  the  sword. 
But  be  of  good  courage.  The  Golden  Fleece 
you  shall  have,  if  it  lies  within  the  power  of  my 
enchantments  to  get  it  for  you.  Wait  for  me 
here  an  hour  before  niid night." 

At  the  appointed  hour,  you  might   again  have 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  331 

seen  Prince  Jason  and  the  Princess  Medea,  side 
by  side,  stealing  through  the  streets  of  Colchis, 
on  their  way  to  the  sacred  grove,  in  the  centre 
of  which  the  Golden  Fleece  was  suspended  to 
a  tree.  While  they  w^ere  crossing  the  pasture 
ground,  the  brazen  bulls  came  towards  Jason, 
lowing,  nodding  their  heads,  and  thrusting  forth 
their  snouts,  which,  as  other  cattle  do,  they  loved 
to  have  rubbed  and  caressed  by  a  friendly  hand. 
Their  fierce  nature  was  thoroughly  tamed ;  and, 
with  their  fierceness,  the  two  furnaces  in  their 
stomachs  had  likewise  been  extinguished,  inso- 
much that  they  probably  enjoyed  far  m^ore  com- 
fort in  grazing  and  chewing  their  cuds  than  ever 
before.  Indeed,  it  had  heretofore  been  a  great 
inconvenience  to  these  poor  animals,  that,  when- 
ever they  wished  to  eat  a  mouthful  of  grass,  the 
fire  out  of  their  nostrils  had  shrivelled  it  up, 
before  they  could  manage  to  crop  it.  How  they 
contrived  to  keep  themselves  alive  is  more  than 
I  can  imagine.  But  now",  instead  of  emitting 
jets  of  flame  and  streams  of  sulphurous  vapor, 
they  breathed  the  very  sweetest  of  cow  breath. 
After  kindly  patting  the  bulls,  Jason  followed 
Medea's  guidance  into  the  Grove  of  Mars,  where 
the  great  oak  trees,  that  had  been  growing  for 


332  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

centuries,  threw  so  thick  a  shade  that  the  moon 
beams  struggled  vainly  to  find  their  way  through 
it.  Only  here  and  there  a  glimmer  fell  upon  the 
leaf-strewn  earth,  or  now  and  then  a  breeze 
stirred  the  boughs  aside,  and  gave  Jason  a 
glimpse  of  the  sky,  lest,  in  that  deep  obscurity, 
he  might  forget  that  there  was  one,  overhead. 
At  length,  when  they  had  gone  farther  and  far- 
ther into  the  heart  of  the  duskiness,  Medea 
squeezed  Jason's  hand. 

"  Look  yonder,"  she  whispered.  ''  Do  you 
see   it?" 

Gleaming  among  the  venerable  oaks,  there 
was  a  radiance,  not  like  the  moonbeams,  but 
rather  resembling  the  golden  glory  of  the  setting 
sun.  It  proceeded  from  an  object,  which  ap- 
peared to  be  suspended  at  about  a  man's  height 
from  the  ground,  a  little  farther  within  the  wood. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Jason. 

"  Have  you  come  so  far  to  seek  it,"  exclaimed 
Medea,  "  and  do  you  not  recognize  the  meed  of 
all  your  toils  and  perils,  when  it  glitters  before 
your  eyes  ?     It  is  the  Golden  Fleece." 

Jason  went  onward  a  few  steps  farther,  and  then 
stopped  to  gaze.  O,  how  beautiful  it  looked, 
shining  with   a  marvellous  light  of  its  own,  that 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  333 

inestimable  prize,  which  so  many  heroes  had 
longed  to  behold,  but  had  perished  in  the  quest 
of  it,  either  by  the  perils  of  their  voyage,  or  by 
the  fiery  breath  of  the  brazen-lunged  bulls. 

"  How  gloriously  it  shines  ! "  cried  Jason,  in  a 
rapture.  "  It  has  surely  been  dipped  in  the 
richest  gold  of  sunset.  Let  me  hasten  onward, 
and  take  it  to  my  bosom." 

"  Stay,"  said  Medea,  holding  him  back.  "  Have 
you  forgotten  what  guards  it  ?  " 

To  say  the  truth,  in  the  joy  of  beholding  the 
object  of  his  desires,  the  terrible  dragon  had 
quite  slipped  out  of  Jason's  memory.  Soon, 
however,  something  came  to  pass,  that  reminded 
him  what  perils  were  still  to  be  encountered. 
An  antelope,  that  probably  mistook  the  yellow 
radiance  for  sunrise,  came  bounding  fleetly 
through  the  grove.  He  was  rushing  straight 
towards  the  Golden  Fleece,  when  suddenly  there 
was  a  frightful  hiss,  and  the  immense  head  and 
half  the  scaly  body  of  the  dragon  was  thrust 
forth,  (for  he  was  twisted  round  the  trunk  of  the 
tree  on  which  the  fleece  hung,)  and  seizing 
the  poor  antelope,  swallowed  him  with  one  snap 
of  his  jaws. 

After  this   feat,  the    dragon   seemed   sensible 


334  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

that  some  other  living  creature  was  within  reach; 
on  which  he  felt  inclined  to  finish  his  meal.  In 
various  directions  he  kept  poking  his  ugly  snout 
among  the  trees,  stretching  out  his  neck  a  terri- 
ble long  way,  now  here,  now  there,  and  now 
close  to  the  spot  where  Jason  and  the  princess 
were  hiding  behind  an  oak.  Upon  my  word,  as 
the  head  came  waving  and  undulating  through 
the  air,  and  reaching  almost  within  arm's  length 
of  Prince  Jason,  it  was  a  very  hideous  and  un- 
comfortable sight.  The  gape  of  his  enormous 
jaws  was  nearly  as  wide  as  the  gateway  of 
the  king's  palace. 

"  Well,  Jason,"  whispered  Medea,  (for  she  was 
ill  natured,  as  all  enchantresses  are,  and  wanted 
to  make  the  bold  youth  tremble,)  "  what  do  you 
think  now  of  your  prospect  of  winning  the  Gold- 
en Fleece?" 

Jason  answered  only  by  drawing  his  sword, 
and  making  a  step  forward. 

"  Stay,  foolish  youth,"  said  Medea,  grasping 
his  arm.  "  Do  not  you  see  you  are  lost,  with- 
out me  as  your  good  angel  ?  In  this  gold 
box  I  have  a  magic  potion,  which  will  do  the 
dragon's  business  far  more  cflectually  than  your 
sword." 


THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE.  335 

The  dragon  had  probably  heard  the  voices; 
for  swift  as  lightning,  his  black  head  and  forked 
tongue  came  hissing  among  the  trees  again, 
darting  full  forty  feet  at  a  stretch.  As  it  ap- 
proached, Medea  tossed  the  contents  of  the  gold 
box  right  down  the  monsters  wide-open  throat. 
Immediately,  with  an  outrageous  hiss  and  a 
tremendous  wriggle,  —  flinging  his  tail  up  to  the 
tip-top  of  the  tallest  tree,  and  shattering  all  its 
branches  as  it  crashed  heavily  down  again, — the 
dragon  fell  at  full  length  upon  the  ground,  and 
lay  quite  motionless. 

"  It  is  only  a  sleeping  potion,"  said  the  en- 
chantress to  Prince  Jason.  "  One  always  finds 
a  use  for  these  mischievous  creatures,  sooner  or 
later ;  so  I  did  not  wish  to  kill  him  outright. 
Quick !  Snatch  the  prize,  and  let  us  begone. 
You  have  won  the  Golden  Fleece." 

Jason  caught  the  fleece  from  the  tree,  and 
hurried  through  the  grove,  the  deep  shadows  of 
which  w^ere  illuminated  as  he  passed  by  the 
golden  glory  of  the  precious  object  that  he  bore 
along.  A  little  way  before  him,  he  beheld  the 
old  woman  whom  he  had  helped  over  the  stream, 
with  her  peacock  beside  her.  She  clapped  her 
hands  for  joy,  and  beckoning  him  to  makf»  haste. 


336  THE    GOLDEN    FLEECE. 

disappeared  among  the  duskiness  of  the  trees. 
Espying  the  two  winged  sons  of  the  North  Wind, 
(who  were  disporting  themselves  in  the  moon- 
light, a  few  hundred  feet  aloft,)  Jason  bade  them 
tell  the  rest  of  the  Argonauts  to  embark  as 
speedily  as  possible.  But  Lynceus,  with  his 
sharp  eyes,  had  already  caught  a  glimpse  of  him, 
bringing  the  Golden  Fleece,  although  several 
stone  walls,  a  hill,  and  the  black  shadows  of  the 
grove  of  Mars,  intervened  between.  By  his  ad- 
vice, the  heroes  had  seated  themselves  on  the 
benches  of  the  galley,  with  their  oars  held  per- 
pendicularly, ready  to   let   fall   into   the   water. 

As  Jason  drew  near^  he  heard  the  Talking 
Image  calling  to  him  with  more  than  ordinary 
eagerness,  in  its  grave,  sweet  voice :  — 

"  Make  haste.  Prince  Jason  I  For  your  life, 
make   haste ! " 

With  one  bound,  he  leaped  aboard.  At  sight 
of  the  glorious  radiance  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  the 
nine  and  forty  heroes  gave  a  mighty  shout,  and 
Orpheus,  striking  his  harp,  s.  ng  a  song  of  tri- 
umph, to  the  cadence  of  whicl  the  galley  flew 
over  the  water,  homeward  bound,  as  if  careering 
along  with  wings ' 


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